It’s tough hyping yourself to write a match report after beating a very average side in a tournament that generally doesn’t heat up until the semi-finals, but we have to make it work for a few hundred words, so keep with me.
Firstly, we won. You can only beat what is put in front of you and we did the job. We’ve qualified for the knockout phase of the competition which means our last two games should see some real minutes for some of the kids that are taking our fancy.
The performance wasn’t exactly electric, but we saw what need to from certain player. Nicolas Pepe had a major reaction after his dim sending off against Leeds. Again, he’s usually quite good against sides that give him the luxury of time and space that he doesn’t get in the Premier League but he still looked motivated and purposeful. He had 6 shots, he made the most passes, and his goal from a Joe Willock cross was lovely.
Arteta was pleased after the game.
‘He had a great performance, he scored one goal and could have scored another one or two. He created some good moments in the game and worked really hard for the team, so I really like it, I am pleased with that.’
‘We all know what his level is, and all the time the question is how often he can get to that level and how he contributes to other aspects of the game.’
‘Today is the example of the level he needs to hit, and he needs to keep doing it because he is capable of it and you can see that every time he gets in those positions win the final third, he is a real threat and a very difficult player to control because he can go with his feet, he can come inside, he can shoot, he can create crosses and he can go in behind you as well. That is what we can expect from him.’
It’s a shame we won’t see him for three games in the league now.
That might open up some opportunities for others. Reiss Nelson put in another good performance. His runs were direct, he was fast, his passing was crisp. I loved the goal he scored. He showed a lot of energy to get on the end of another Joe Willock cross. Again though, it’s in the Premier League where he needs to make it count. When the pressure is high and spaces are tighter.
Joe Willock had another game where you can see what he could offer the side. I think the glimpse of Emile Smith Rowe might have been a little more exciting, the manager seemed to be adament that we have a very good player on our hands. He created an assist very quickly, his clever run into space found the ball from Tierney, he’d already spotted Balogun who took a nice touch and bundled home for his first-ever goal for Arsenal. There’s something special about the two of them combining. Hopefully, that’s a partnership we see more of in the future.
Overall, the more attacking approach to the game had a positive impact on our numbers. We had 19 attempts at their goal, hitting the target 8 times. I’m not sure we landed a ‘performance’ out there, but I do think we are increasingly seeing why we’re not where we need to be as a squad. Another 2/10 performance from Lacazette who looked shite against a pub team. Another fairly anonymous runout for Eddie. Xhaka was far too slow in midfield again, even at this level. He doesn’t move the ball at pace and he’s a fairly one-dimensional player. We desperately lack craft with our final ball, even with space and time. Speed and precision is so important to this system Arteta is trying to move us towards. We need to find some of that in the January window otherwise it’s going to be more of this bland football we feel is unbefitting of a club like Arsenal.
The good news is Thomas Partey should be back this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see if he plays next to Mo or Ceballos. Then we’ll wait to see what he does about Joe Willock. Still, I’d prefer to play an attacking system badly, than give up and stick 11 men behind the ball. We need to move faster towards a creativity production line, so let’s see what we do against a very good Wolves side this weekend.
I hope it’s not the slap back to reality we had against Leeds at the weekend.
Maupay misses the kick.
How frustrating are Brighton??
Play great football until the opposition’s penalty box.
The Idiot Maupay Strikes Again!
….and down in Berlin, a certain Arsenal loanee grins and celebrates Maupay’s miss.
Marc Partey should shift the needle, I don’t know much about him, but what I seen away at United, I liked, he’s 27, and we’ve signed a player coming into his prime, who’s played at a high level, let’s see what he can do. I like the look of Gabriel, but at 22 he’s far from being elite, his passing is generally safe, but we need defenders who can get directly get through the lines, nobody outside Luiz currently has that ability, and Luiz is a liability., you never know which side of the bed he’s going to climb out… Read more »
“This will take a bit of time”
This has always been true no matter who the manager is but the fundamental fact still remains the more years we spend outside of the champions league places the harder it becomes to get back there.
We are not going to make a lot from sales, the financials are already looking bad, we need a coach who makes the team greater than the sum of its parts to achieve our targets, at the moment the team is not even performing to its full potential not to talk of exceeding them.
Just offside. Ha
RH
Oh please do you compare Arteta’s football background with Mourinho, Rodgers and Nunho.
Arteta may not have been world class, but he was still a very good class of player with
over 20 years of playing and coaching experience!!!
Arteta could well have played internationally for almost any country but for Spain. I am fairly sure that he could have played for England.
There are far too many posters like you who persist in belittling Arteta. The man has not
completed one year at Arsenal and you persist. Give it a break.
Other than Neal Twat Maupay I really like the Brighton players and Brighton as a team.
Dare I say that I think Graham Potter has all the ingredients to have sauce as a manager?
At least, BHA has the gut to attack. Not like our pragmatic coach.
“There are far too many posters like you who persist in belittling Arteta”
Belittling? You are making silly claims about his football Pedigree in relation to his rivals and you think pointing out the absurdity of that is belittling him? Nonsense
You can back the manger without these made up claims, his football pedigree is no better than that of his present competitors let alone exceeding them, believing that is absolute nonsense !!!
Rich Agree 100% on Partey and I think as the season progresses you’ll see what a terrible player Xhaka not only is but has been his entire time here as better players show us what we’ve been missing. You seem to miss my point though – I’m not saying we have a squad that should be challenging for the title, Luiz can be hit or miss but you make it sound like he couldn’t get into Fulham’s back line. This isn’t about it taking time it’s about us regressing at the moment and it’s not a match or two. All… Read more »
I’ve not mentioned Arteta’s playing career or ability once when discussing his current role at the club.
Emirates Brendan Rodgers has been in football in a coaching capacity since he was 20!!
Nuno played football in Portugal, Spain and Russia and has managed Valencia, Rio Ave , Porto and now Wolves
Mourinho has been studying football since his youth having come from a prominent Portuguese footballing family, he has probably forgotten more about winning football matches as a coach than Arteta is yet to learn
He does not have a better footballing pedigree than his competitors
That is pure unadulterated nonsense
ES
You lost all your credibility when you say that Arteta is an experience coach.
Graham Pie[rarer is a good example of a protagonistic thinking manager.
Arteta needs to arrange a summer internship with him.
Rich
“Partey should shift the needle, I don’t know much about him, but what I seen away at United, I liked, he’s 27, and we’ve signed a player coming into his prime, who’s played at a high level, let’s see what he can do.”
Partey is coming into his prime at 27 , whilst the detractors of Eriksen consider him over the hill at 28 …
I think it is fair to say that both players are at the peak age for a footballer and both have played at a high level.
Emirates stroller has been carrying Arteta’s water for a while.
Maybe he just means Arteta is experienced at inexperience
Wonder the sought of football Brighton and Hove Albion will be playing if they had a generational coach like Arteta considering they don’t have half the talent or wage bill we do.
Tell me more about hos footballing pedigree when he shows us more as a coach than we are presently seeing, at the moment the football is gash and we approach every game with a sense of fear, both players and fans alike.
The almost religious belief Arteta will develop into a coach better than all already doing the job is very very very absurd
‘ “The bottom line is that we need to be patient and lower our expectations’
Imagine if we had lowered our expectations with Emery
Missed out of top-4 and reached Europa league with a poorer squad in his first season…sacked in the middle of the second season with a comparable point haul to Arteta
Arteta will be assessed like every other manager.
Receding,
In fairness, the likes of ES had lots of experience at patience with the last decade of Wenger
“Receding,
In fairness, the likes of ES had lots of experience at patience with the last decade of Wenger”
All those who did not have a minute of patience with Emery are now advocating years of it for Arteta based on absolutely nothing but words.
Emery failed and was let let go
If Arteta fails this season he might get a pass based on the FA cup and his lack of experience
If he starts next season poorly then he has to go.
Tierney is a very good player but is not an upgrade on Monreal
Nacho Monreal is one of the few good things we’ve done defensively in the past decade.
…and that’s not a knock on Tierney.
Dissenter
Emirates defence of Arteta is like a female friend trying to set you up on a date with one of her friends.
You ask what does she look like – she answer’s well she’s got a nice personality.
I think we all know what that means.
3 on 2 and Welback didn’t pass!
Receding hairline I’m not overly invested in Arteta. If we sacked him tomorrow, and brought in Poch, I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at that move. I’m just not convinced by the argument our problems are coaching or tactical, our problems go much deeper than that. Pierre My concern about Eriksen isn’t based on his talent, more he chose to move to an inferior league in his prime, and he’s failed there, I think our team needs some physicality, not another fleet footed lightweight, we’ve already got Lacazette and a fading Willian, we don’t need to add to that… Read more »
Jota reads Le grove I swear…….
That’s the difference. The Pool’s attackers can shoot and score.
“I’m just not convinced by the argument our problems are coaching or tactical, our problems go much deeper than that.”
So you believe we are as well coached as is possible? The players we have at the club are playing at the absolute zenith of their capabilities? This is how good it will get with our present squad no matter who the manager is?
That my friend is nonsense
Rich
“I’m just not convinced by the argument our problems are coaching or tactical, our problems go much deeper than that.”
Do you think Emery should’ve been sacked then?
Rich
“I’m just not convinced by the argument our problems are coaching or tactical, our problems go much deeper than that.”
How can that be true if you also believe
“If we sacked him tomorrow, and brought in Poch, I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at that move.”
Either the manager makes a difference or he doesn’t.
“Either the manager makes a difference or he doesn’t.” Very confused logic Rich rolls out to appear patient and deep We are playing the worst most unadventurous football in the top three or four divisions of English football and that is to be expected because all our expensively paid players, most of them full internationals, are all crap. The bar isn’t being lowered, its been completely removed. Arteta is like a kid in kindergarten, he can define his own success and all true supporters most accept it. We better put up something resembling performance tomorrow or it will get real… Read more »
Marc
ES is singing from the same hymn book as Pedro.
They have been trying really hard to lower expectations which is disappointing because Arteta. famously did set a target of winning the CL in 3 years .
Mirror reports that Arteta is targeting Isco in January. Does it mean that we don’t want Dom anymore?
Dissenter
Well at the current rate Arteta’s going to set some achievement by winning the CL at his first attempt.
I want someone to tell me why the bar has suddenly been dropped by such a huge margin and I’m being unreasonable.
As Receeding said earlier the longer we spend out of the CL the harder it is to get back in it.
Arteta ball is the antithesis of protagonistic thinking in football.
It is like the watching Darwin trying to get giant Galapagos tortoises to outrace him on Chatham island.
It would have earned a lot of boos from game attending fans if fans were allowed into stadiums. It will be impossible to fill the terraces or sign good commercial deals if that’s what his vision for Arsenal is.
Nelson
Could be paper talk, could be the player wants to go to a CL team, could be we were never interested in the first place.
Nelson
Arteta is not a developmental manager.
He’s all about big names and checkbooks.
He will prefer Isco or Ericksen to Dominick.
Arsenal said the decision to sack Emery had been “taken due to results and performances not being at the level required”.29 Nov 2019
It then begs the question why is the current manager not been sacked
Officiating is dismal in the premier league
How is that a yellow card when the players cleanly tackles Jota?
“We better put up something resembling performance tomorrow or it will get real ugly fast”
Actually it won’t because the truth is this place has no bearing on the real world. It could get nasty in the media if the NLD goes really pear shaped but cheerleader in chief already has an excuse (only 1?) lined up for that with “they were allowed some fans in the ground”.
If we add a player or two in Jan and it clicks for Arteta all this will be quickly forgotten.
Has Isco ever played in a back 9 before?
“If we add a player or two in Jan and it clicks for Arteta all this will be quickly forgotten.”
Therein lies the problem for me, we are not building an actual philosophy or one that excites anyway. We are banking on building an illusion of defensive solidity based on cheer numbers at the back while one or two class players male the difference up top. It’s a tactic that can be easily figured out.
Maybe my expectations were unrealistically raised by the sales pitch that led to his appointment, the generational bit, total attacking football etc.
No. I don’t think that is a penalty!
Brighton about to get a well deserved draw
Outshot Liverpool, created more big chances than they did too
Graham Potter: sauce.
Brighton got their rewards for being the protagonist
They weren’t waiting fit that one half chance to ‘nick the goal”
They forced it with their positive approach to the game.
VAR saved them though. Two Pool’s goals were called back.
“Graham Potter: sauce”
I have always been very dismissive of Potter, i think he can be naïve, but there is no denying his teams play a certain way and on their day they can be a handful. This despite never coaching a top club.
Will be interesting to see how he progresses, still only 45 which i guess is still pretty young for a manager.
Nelson
Both Liverpool goals were offside.
Offside is one of those things that VAR gets right, the line wasn’t wrong.
“VAR saved them though. Two Pool’s goals were called back.”
Incorrectly?
If No then VAR wasn’t doing them any favors, it was just doing it’s job
Nelson
I think you mean VAR prevented Liverpool getting a win through an unfair goal. Both were very clearly offside, Brighton great value for their draw after missing a sitter and missing a penalty.
Can’t understand this “bloody VAR getting decisions right” issue some people have.
If the fucking ref’s could do their jobs even 15% correctly we wouldn’t need VAR.
Good result for errrr…..spuds!!
I didn’t see the match but if Brighton have missed a sitter and a pen then surely Liverpool got away with one rather than the other way round?
10 shots for Brighton, 3 on target, Pool with 5 shots, 2 on target.
Brighton have better squad than Arsenal too, right?
Player poverty!!!!!!!
NEED MORE £50M PLAYERS!!!!
Sahla’s goal a Gnats bollock away from being
onside.
Var is ruining the game.
And taking all the debate out of the game.
The was it —— wasn’t debate has gone?
“NEED MORE £50M PLAYERS!!!!”
We are building to win the UCL in three years after all
Two soft pens for Brighton but I’m not too bothered since Salah and Mane aren’t exactly known for staying on their feet under contact.
I just don’t like to see players awarded pens when they deviate from straight line and into defenders’ path like Connolly’ did.
Pool with 5 shots, 2 on target.
Sack Klopp.
15th of July 2020,
3 shots for Arsenal, 2 on target.
24 shots for Liverpool, 8 on target.
Peak Arteta!
Receding hairline Managers are not omnipotent , I think there’s a limit to what this group of players can achieve, and the type of football they can produce. Marc Emery had to go once he lost the dressing room, and the vast majority of the fan base I was an advocate of giving him time to work up until that point, because I felt it was a 3-4 year project, that would involve much better decision making, and regularly debated Pedro and many others on that point. I said changing Emery wouldn’t shift the needle, our problems weren’t coaching ones,… Read more »
“Managers are not omnipotent , I think there’s a limit to what this group of players can achieve, and the type of football they can produce.”
And we are at that limit?
“Managers are not omnipotent , I think there’s a limit to what this group of players can achieve, and the type of football they can produce.”
Unbelievable… I told you guys that Brighton has a better squad.
“Arteta may not have been world class, but he was still a very good class of player with over 20 years of playing and coaching experience!!!”
I have 50 years of eating fine French food, that does not make me a Michelin star chef!!
Tony Adams has been coached by classy managers, but he would still be out of his depth still coaching a 7 years school girl team.
You don’t become a great manager by osmosis. You need first to have humility to test yourself at lower level. Pep managed the Barcelona B team. Arteta inexperience is just showing.
James
If all the incorrect offside decisions had been by millimetres no one would have wanted or pushed for VAR – the problem is the officials were getting decisions wrong that were by a margin of yards which was not acceptable.
Once you bring in the technology you can’t start saying we’ll give a tolerance of X and let a goal stand even though it’s offside.
Valentin
You nailed it there!
“Emery had to go once he lost the dressing room, and the vast majority of the fan base”
If it wasn’t a coaching issue why did Emery lose the dressing room?
Its all ifs and buts, reality is win tomorrow and we are back in a better place going to the NLD, loose or draw and we are doomed !
Sounds like Brighton deserved a point, good prediction Graham.
I think it’s likely Klopp will discuss the fixture planning his post match interview.
Football is a fast game. All the players including the BHA players think it wasn’t a penalty. The pundits also agree that it wasn’t a penalty in real time. VAR has this slow motion replay. Whether football should be decided by slow motion replay?
Nelson
VAR has been brought in to get these decisions right, which is fair for all (provided it is used competently, whether it is or not is another debate). Ultimately if the correct decision is made, it shouldn’t really matter about ‘real time’.
Marc
Emery lost the dressing room, because he publicly tried to ditch Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac, and the club failed to move them on.
He then lost the fans, the players were getting stick in the stadium and on social media, we were in a spiral of negativity
So they went into self preservation mode, they pinned the blame on the manager, rather than taking responsibility themselves.
It’s the problem Arteta has now, if he loses the senior players, and the youngsters sink instead of swimming, then he’s toast.
Dressing room politics.
Chris
Agree – the issue is we needed VAR because the ref’s are worse than useless and then we go and put the same ref’s in charge of the VAR and wonder why it isn’t working properly.
“Emery lost the dressing room, because he publicly tried to ditch Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac, ”
So as Arteta has also binned off Ozil and Kolas does that not mean he’s a hair’s breadth from losing the dressing room as well.
That was a good goal by MC.
Marc
It begs the question at what point does Mike Riley’s role become questioned, VAR seems to work very well on the continent, yet here, as you say, there is still human error with regards to who is using the tech.
I would love to read the job and qualification requirements for applying for a position at Stockley Park!
Receding hairline. I think we’re at the start of a new cycle. We’ve added some shape and structure, but we lack cutting edge, and players in the mould of Iwobi, Alexis and Ramsey in the final third, We lack penetration, and players who play between the lines of midfield and attack. These are structural issues Outside of Luiz, our central defenders are awful at progressing the ball, we’ve got nobody who can intercept and drive 30 metres, and nobody who can control the game and play through the lines. Everything we do is slow and one paced, because our players… Read more »
Marc
Possibly yes, we’ve got a first team squad of 31, managing a squad that big is going to be a struggle.
Numerically we could lose 7 players without the need to replace any of them
If the mood turns darker, don’t be surprised to see players throw Arteta under a bus.
But don’t expect a huge upturn in fortunes with a new manager either
“Everything we do is slow and one paced, because our players are slow and one paced.”
That is a yes then, we are at the limit of what these players can do and we need brand new players ( what was it three to six new players?) before we can truly judge Arteta as a coach?
Sorry don’t buy that
If we finish anywhere below 7th this season they is a conversation to be had
Chris
“I would love to read the job and qualification requirements for applying for a position at Stockley Park!”
That’s easy mate – all you need is a letter of recommendation from Fergie.
Not many goalscoring 10s in the world which is exactly what we need .
Rich
The Pooooooooooooch (and I don’t think he’d come to us even if we approached) would have this same squad of players getting better results and performances after a couple of weeks.
Arteta is not doing a good enough job and must improve.
I am not so sure playing Laca as a midfielder is a good idea. I find Laca has a good shot inside the box. Now he doesn’t shoot anymore. His passing is always below average.
PLAYER POVERTY!
We lack balance. We need not one but two creators. Aouar + Dom Slob bare minimum for top half finish. Our CFs are not good enough, CBs can’t progress with the ball, Bellerin is a hole, we should be looking for someone better than Leno.
Just look at Brighton’s team, full of exciting players. If only we had Maupay, Welbeck, Joel Veltman, Pascal Gross, Webster and Matt Ryan. I swear Arteta would try to go 1v1 Vs Pool instead of conceding 8x more shots than our total.
How can you trust our overpaid, useless players. I don’t blame Arteta. If he had Brighton’s squad he’d be more adventurous. But not with this merry band of misfits.
MC is playing good football today. leading 2 – 0
I can’t believe some of the drooling over Pepe playing well against a Norwegian pub team. It really only matters in the PL where he is lightweight and way too left sided to be effective. Most teams worked him out on the left within a minute or two and he is easily negated physically. Will never be an effective player for us outside of shit Turdsday Night games. That’s where he should stay. We should be looking to cut our losses and bin him off cheap to Serie A or back to France. He’s sucking up precious wages. Problem here… Read more »
raptora
I had Pedro trying to turn my current criticism into “I want Emery back” last night.
I’d be fucking over the moon if Arteta turned it round got a result tomorrow and then followed it up by destroying the Spud’s and Mourinho next week.
It does not make you a bad fan to say things aren’t right at the moment and want something better.
Nothing feels better about football when soccer prevails over the likes of Football Neanderthals like that Red haired clown from Burnley, along with his cousins Allardyce and Mourinho
Godfather
You missed a name off there.
@Marc:
Lol I could fill the pages with the list of football Neanderthals
Inter destroying a Sassuolo team i thought will give them serious problems
So much for my instincts
Raptora Brighton had 39% possession today, had they had 61%, Liverpool would have ripped them a new one. Liverpool are much better than us. All clubs are struggling to break teams down. What’s changed is the amount of match winners other clubs have in their forward lines, the bottom clubs can now buy players from any club they want outside 12-15clubs in Europe, such is the financial might of the PL The young talent in this country is also the best I’ve seen in my lifetime, we’re now producing talent on mass, that’s the envy of the world. Until we… Read more »
Marc, I know. We’ve consistently been seeing the same things. And we’re both being flamed for supporting Emery. Truth is we support Arteta same way we were supporting the Basque. We want to reach the next level but both managers have/had glaring weaknesses. And we speak about it. When there are good things to be said, we say them too. Apparently it’s time we shut up and support the team. Arteta is getting a fair bit of patience though. If it was Emery producing this bland, boring, snail speed, sideways passing, ugly, no idea how to go forward football we’ve… Read more »
Rich: “Brighton had 39% possession today, had they had 61%, Liverpool would have ripped them a new one.”
You mean like they ripped Leeds a new one? Outpossessed and lost through 2 penalties, one of them in the 88th minute as a newly promoted team, AWAY to Anfield. Okay buddy boy.
The amount of excuses we find for teams like Brighton, Leeds, Southampton, Wolves, Villa, Everton, Leicester, all playing nice to the eye football and all doing well Vs the big teams. Like it’s perfectly fine that they aren’t parking the bus and are dangerous in attack. But there is always a reason for 1 pen goal in 6 games. Always.
MarcNovember 28, 2020 15:25:33
GodfatherYou missed a name off there.
Supreme leader was peacefully enjoying his Peroni, then baaam out of nowhere.
Rich you keep saying our players our one paced and slow. Our players are not slow by the way..Saka is not slow, neither is Auba,Pepe,Tierney, Gabriel, Partey, Bellerin, Eddie, Nelson or AMN. Our decision making is slow.. because our system isn’t designed around runners. Look at Leeds they don’t have speed merchants everywhere. They have a system designed to create attacking by having 4 or 5 people get forward after every turnover. We have Xhaka who is slow and one paced and we shouldn’t play him unless its games where it doesn’t matter like Europa. Hence why we paid a… Read more »
Sid get’s it.