LEGGY PERFORMANCE SHOWS LIMITS OF SQUAD

by .

The run is over. It was fun while it lasted. Reality gave us a slap in the face and our charge for top 4 probably died with that point.

No Tierney, Partey, or either Gabriel gave us a leggy performance that lacked true penetration.

That lack of quality in the final third, both with the final pass, and the final shot, were not quite there.

We also looked pretty open. Palace hit the target twice. Both times pulling great saves out of Bernd Leno. That didn’t really tell the full story, Palace were bad in front of goal considering some of the great chances they had. The woodwork was rattled. Granit Xhaka did have to step in with two spectacular interventions.

Talking of Granit. You had the full package. He was the most prolific of the progressive pass makers, he made some elite tackles, he was blood and thunder… but he also tackled like Boris Johnson after 3 pints, he gave away two freekicks in dangerous areas, and one of his very poor stray passes led to a dangerous counter.

Mikel Arteta blamed tired legs from the Newcastle game. I thought we lacked energy at times, but overall, it just felt like a game where things didn’t click. Hector wasn’t at the races. Saka and ESR were quiet. AMN looked unusually shaky at times. It just wasn’t our day.

Still, my main takeaway from the bland result was this: At least it was a bad day at the office for players that will get better.

I’ll take that sort of game from ESR, Saka, and AMN. Much better than watching that exact performance from Willian, Pepe and Kolasinac.

The biggest loss was Tierney. He’s suffering with tight muscles, no doubt because we’ve played him in nearly every game. He was always going to break at some point with no rest. Let’s hope it’s just tightness and a few days rest will get him back in shape.

If he does come back, the Newcastle game starts to look like the first time we could see a true selection. Thomas Partey will make a huge difference. Martinelli will give us that energy we lacked at times today. ESR and Saka have to keep playing. That’ll make us a more dynamic team and hopefully give us the three points we really need.

Short post today. I’ll be back later with some thoughts on the other things that are going on around the club!

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grooveydaddy

1st

grooveydaddy

And

grooveydaddy

The

Captain Tierney

Tr4phy

grooveydaddy

Tr4phy

grooveydaddy

Damn you CT

Captain Tierney

😂😂

Kenyangunner

Tierney should not have played against Newscastle

Captain Tierney

Where will Martinelli play with Auba back?
He wont. He’ll be on the bench

raptora

Graham, I usually agree with you quite a lot. But not regarding Luiz. The few times we were dangerous in the game was almost always with him starting something, being proactive. His long balls were spot on on couple of occasions, his runs with the ball were also good. He did far more in attack than Holding and was equal to him in defence. It was Arteta that wanted us to play this slow, full of fear of making a mistake, garbage football in 80% of our attacks. Imagine blaming our CB when the game has ended 0-0. Yesterday’s result… Read more »

raptora

I have couple of stats for you guys. – Arsenal have failed to score in seven Premier League matches this season, as many as in the entirety of last season, last failing to score in more games in a season in 2015/16 (8). (18th round is not even half the season gone) – Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke had more shots than any other player tonight (6) – the last five players to have 6+ shots in a Premier League game at the Emirates have all been visiting players: John McGinn (Sept 2019), Raúl Jiménez (Nov 2019), Sadio Mané (July 2020),… Read more »

Captain Tierney

Amn showed AGAIN why no manager plays him in midfield.
Yes, he’s got pace and power but the amount of silly mistakes he makes + his sudden lack of concentration at random moments is the worst possible weakness for a midfielder.

Davey

We struggle every home game against an athletic/powerful side that breaks well, the massive pitch seems to highlight our lack of physicality. Will be great to see gabrielle and Partey fully fit and in our line up.

Graham62

raptora

I get where you’re coming from, but I still feel Luiz makes us slower, irrespective of the tactics set up by Arteta.

Gazza

Palace looked sharper and fitter than us which is concerning

Wilko

Raptors So you’re saying a clean sheet is a positive? And we’re unbeaten in 5.

Home win v the toon and we’ll be back on track with a decent rest until Monday night now.

Wilko

The two midfielders were practically playing on top of CBs leaving us nobody in the midfield. Was it because CP closed the spaces well? Or they were scared of been caught ahead of the ball? Bit of both maybe.

We didn’t have the quality outwide to trouble them properly Auba on the left had another poor game but wasn’t helped by AMN and Saka on the other side was let down by Bellerin. Bellerin was infuriating the amount of times he turned back inside instead of playing a dangerous ball across the area when he had the chance.

The Bard

The game summed up where we at. A midtable side with a bang average squad. We need to be patient. Its going to take a few seasons to be properly competitive.

Wilko

Palace did defend and execute their game plan to perfection so you have to give them credit for that.

Graham62

Do you remember when we were a “ athletic/ powerful side” with a winning mentality?

Pre-2006 if my memory serves me right.

Graham62

The Bard.

I’ve been waiting 14 years for us to get it right.

What’s another few more seasons?

Goobergooner

We aren’t getting it right while Arteta is in charge

Graham62

Ceballos is basically great at doing one thing and that’s turning on a sixpence.

Other than that, apart from the occasional decent pass, he is not good enough.

I like his commitment to the cause though.

Samesong

Palace did defend and execute their game plan to perfection so you have to give them credit for that. Wilko 💯 They clearly came to knock a goal on the counter and could of beaten us. Pierre mentioned that we started fast and after 20 minutes run out of steam. I disagree that we run out of steam. I think out final ball was lacking first half. Our best chance or non chance was when Bellerin broke into the box and should of left the shot for Laca. Apart from that. I’ll take a draw. Palace are clearly a bogey… Read more »

Samesong

Knick*

shad

What yesterday showed is how we desperately need to stop playing some players. Luiz and the enigma that is Xhaka made us quite pedestrian, and AMN cannot be trusted in the centre of the park. The winning streak is lost but on any other day, that is a game we’d lose. Woy has Palace playing compact, counter-attacking football with trickster players in Eze and Zaha who can conjure a goal from nothing.

We need a deputy LB and a sub for ESR and we’ll be OK, and hopefully Auba finds his shooting boots ASAP.

Bergkamp63

Pedro,

Agree about tired legs, we never looked like scoring for the whole 94 mins.

I do wish you would stop with the AMN thing though, he never was and never will be good enough, he is no better than Willock & Nelson, they need selling along with all the dross.

Leno
Holding
Gabriel
Mari ?
Tierney
Party
Martinelli
ESR
Saka
Saliba ?
Guen ?

Sell everyone else, Arteta wasn’t joking when he said we need 6 or 7 players, even that might not be enough.

Vintage Gun

A draw was a fair result as we didn’t concede and didn’t come close to scoring. Two even teams.

I’ll tell you what though, that draw doesn’t mean jack. It does nothing for us other than set us back. One win in our last 7 PL home games is disgusting. 5pts out of the last 21pts available?
With ONE measly win?

The only “Big” team we played on that run was Chelsea.

Goobergooner

Leno is the reason we didn’t lose, apart from the fact Benteke is pants.

Would not sell him. Sooo many bigger problems in the outfield positions

Goobergooner

Sorry that wasn’t read correctly Bergkamp.

My bad.

Gbat

Last night further confirmed what I already knew.
The centre midfield lacks athleticism and/or creativity.
Maitland-Niles isn’t very good.
Bellerin is extremely wasteful in the final 3rd.
Aubameyang offers very little.
Holding is a squad player at best.

Leedsgunner

Treat last night as breather and go back on the winning track on Monday versus Newcastle.

In the context of the whole season we kept an unbeaten streak going.

Yes three points would have been perfect but considering we are coming over a bad slump a hard fought tie isn’t a disaster

Danny

5th time in a row we’ve failed to beat them. Even when he was a player, Arteta got a red against them!

MafukoBombers

If only we got Zaha for Pepe.

Smack backed to the reality that is Pepe and his 72m$ albatross around his neck.

englandsbest

The run is not over. A draw is not a defeat.

A pretty dull affair, an exercise in tactics. Arsenal, up and at ’em across the board, Palace with single-prong counters. Total lack of finesse on either side. Post-New Year hangover.

Despite the weariness, on the whole the passing rate was swift, the energy-rate high. An optimistic pointer to the future

Nelson

This slow buildup got to be Arteta’s game plan. There was no fast counter. Each time, the ball has to be played back to one of the CB first. That gave the opponent all the time to set up the defense.

In the 1st half, our attackers were trying to run the channel. But the pass was never there. Bellerin was passing the ball back when Saka or ESR were available. He didn’t want to take risk.

Talking about tired legs, last game we had 4 days rest The next game we have only 3 days rest. God helps us.

Double Double

That game showed that the players are coached not to make a pass that has an element of risk for fear of losing the ball. The amount of time front players made runs to go into channels or wanted the ball early into feet was countless, but instead it gets held onto or knocked out wide and opposition teams can just you regroup. We look considerably better when we are actually a bit more open. Our players are actually fairly decent and when they are under a bit more pressure do show much better close control and one touch football,… Read more »

I hate Green Bay

No team won all 5 matches over Christmas and New Year. Only the two mancs won 4 and drew 1, yet for some reason most of our players and the manager are shit and should be got rid of. Talk about overreaction.

Having said that,, we should never have played Tierney, Saka or ESR against Newcastle. I dont care if we would have lost that game, the league is far more important.

Habesha Gooner

Crystal palace have become our bogey team. But the fact is we don’t have enough drive, flair and creativity in the middle of the park. If we had they would be an easy team to beat. Astonvilla outplayed them at villa park with 10 men some weeks ago because they have grealish, Mginn and Douglas Luiz in midfield. I blame arteta for picking some of the players but the fact is we need quality in midfield to win 50/50 games. What I can’t tolerate is going in another losing streak. We need at least two flair players in midfield to… Read more »

Pierre

Pedro “Talking of Granit. You had the full package. He was the most prolific of the progressive pass makers, he made some elite tackles, he was blood and thunder… but he also tackled like Boris Johnson after 3 pints, he gave away two freekicks in dangerous areas, and one of his very poor stray passes led to a dangerous counter.” If I was a manager, I’m not sure I would want one of my 2 central midfielders tackling like boris or giving the ball away with poor stray passes leading to dangerous counter attacks. I would want my central midfielders… Read more »

Robel yonas

Short and precise, lovely post to sum the game!!!

5am

‘Charge for top 4’ ….., more like “wounded limp to clamber for mid table” 🙄

Jim Lahey

Where to start. Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Mohammad Elneny and Joe Wilock. Those are are central midfield choices (excluding Partey). That is a shocking collection of CMs to have at any club not to mention Arsenal. How are we meant to play free flowing attacking football with those players clogging up the midfield? The most creative player there isn’t even ours, and still isn’t good enough to play for a club the size of Arsenal. When you have a player like Xhaka whose first instinct is to turn around and knock the ball back to the defence how are you… Read more »

Double Double

The way we play takes the shine off any talent we have, not even Messi would have shone in this team,

Double Double

If football had a style that was health and safety, that would be us…..

Nelson

How come the coaching staff didn’t ask Pepe to run like Tierney. He has the speed. Instead, he always stops the ball. He then either passes it back or tries to cut into the middle. If he can’t play with his right foot at all, then play him on the left. Now he is a waste.

Bergkamp63

Pedro,

What will Richard Garlic (new Director of Football Operations) be doing exactly ? Working closely with Edu & Arteta apparently ?

Gbat

Jim Lahey

I agree. Those midfield options are poor. They are neither good with or without the ball. They don’t want it in tight spaces. Don’t like dribbling it when the gaps open up. Create very little and offer next to no goal threat. Elneny is the worst for me. Offers only ball retention and energy.

The signing of Partey is a start to improvement in this area but we need more technicians in there.

Emiratesstroller

There is frankly too much criticism of Xhaka on Le Grove much of which is unjustified. Yesterday he was almost certainly Arsenal’s best player albeit the overall performance of our team was poor. I did not think that the first free kick in dangerous position was justified. He barely touched the player and most posters on Le Grove would have been outraged if the decision had been awarded against any other player. The only real mistake he made was falling down towards the end of game which left us exposed. No-one mentions of course the fantastic tackle he made on… Read more »

Graham62

ES

GX plays using his gut rather than his head.

Yes he made some great tackles and interceptions but he also gets caught out of position and goes to ground far too easily..

It’s difficult for many fans to feel any positivity towards Xhaka.

I’m afraid I’m one of those fans.

Danny+S

Emirates The issue with Xhaka is he will fool you with a few decent performances. But all the time, looming in the background is an absolute stinker of a performance. As I’ve said before he’s a 1 in 5 good games player who is capable of some prolonged streaks of form and that is it. There’s always a shocker looking though, a throat grab, a scything down in the penalty area, a pass straight to the opposition on the edge of his own box. He is a decent player, wears his heart on his sleeve and on his day can… Read more »

Danny+S

I think the pace of the premier league has taken Pepe completely by surprise and his brain can’t keep up with his body now.
The amount of times he tries to go round a player and just runs into them with the ball is shocking.

There is a good player in there somewhere but not in this league.

Danny

Emery for all his crap definitely got it right about Zaha but fuckin’ Raul went for Pepe for the pay offs that of course got Tim Lewis to can his arse.

Emiratesstroller

Graham62 The reason that Xhaka is unpopular is that he plays in what has been for years ” a substandard midfield”. If the overall quality was better no-one would be complaining as much as they do about Xhaka. For a start the idea that Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos and Elneny would be better options is nonsense. We need to see how he plays alongside Partey when this player is “match fit”. Also Arsenal need to bring in a creative player in midfield to rotate with Smith-Rowe. Arsenal need to recruit at least two new “new quality midfielders” but I would personally… Read more »

G8

Shit performance
Shit tactics
Shit subs
Shit manager
Arteta out!

Tee

“How come the coaching staff didn’t ask Pepe to run like Tierney. He has the speed. Instead, he always stops the ball. He then either passes it back or tries to cut into the middle. If he can’t play with his right foot at all, then play him on the left. Now he is a waste.” Do professional players need to be told how to.do the minor things? Pepe has the speed but not comparable to tierny’s. Besides, people should know that the first team isn’t an under age team where you will be taught the basics and given enough… Read more »

Samesong

For a start the idea that Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos and Elneny would be better options is nonsense.

Until you see a Torry or Guen play alongside Partey you don’t really know do you!
Both the player’s that are on loan I would say aren’t worse players than Xhaka at all. I think people underestimate how good Guendouzi is on his day.

Pierre

Stroller
“The reason that Xhaka is unpopular is that he plays in what has been for years ” a substandard midfield”

You are missing a very important point .
The midfield became substandard when Xhaka arrived and it has become progressively worse as first cazorla , then Ramsey and finally Ozil were replaced.

To not have Ozil as an option in our present midfield is ridiculous in the extreme when you look at our lack of quality.

.

S Asoa

We know so little about what happens in training , except for PR videos which normally are a rosy picture. The Omertà is pronounced at AFC from the time Wenger started failing, which is not surprising since the way for incompetent to look good is to hide his flaws. Only during last 6 months ofEmery one could get a picture.
Under the circumstances,
one must agree with G8
Shit performance
Shit tactics
Shit subs
Shit manager
Arteta out!

jwl

Interview with Garlick when he was leaving west brom, i assume his role with Arsenal will be similar. ———— The former lawyer joined the club in the summer of 2010 as a legal director, before spending a season as technical director in 2013. He was then given the wide-ranging title of Director of Football Administration in 2014, a post he has occupied ever since. “I’ve read people saying ‘I don’t really know what he does’ and that’s good in a way,” said Garlick yesterday, as he reflected on his time at the club. “I’m not quite sure you could say… Read more »

Danny S

Pierre

We don’t have the players of the required quality to carry a team containing Ozil.

Out of possession you are basically down to 10 men and we struggle with 11.

Yes he might help us keep a bit more possession and he might put in some good penetrating passes but will that compensate for his complete lack of effort off the ball?

Plus he’s done very little in the last 2 years to suggest he’s anything near what he was 5 years ago.

He’s a luxury I don’t think we can afford currently.

The BFB

As the good ship Arsenal FC drifts perilously close to the looming iceberg, the owner is oblivious to the impending danger and the captain is asleep at the wheel. Only the junior members of the crew realise the gravity of the situation and react accordingly. Is there anyone on board who can save this once magnificent vessel from it’s fate? See next Monday’s thrilling instalment to find out if the catastrophe can be averted.

Pierre

Whether he is as good as he was 5 years ago is not the point.
The point is , would he improve our creativity and our ability to unlock a low block defence ..

If the answer is yes , then he should be an option

As for carrying players, we seem to have carried enough players this season and they have been given bymerous opportunities.

Willian, Aubameyang, pepe and xhaka for starters.

Danny S

Wilko

No it’s not ok really. I think Auba needs benching. For whom I have no idea.

And footballing reasons or not, Ozil is a little shit that doesn’t deserve to wear the shirt.

No player who causes so much division should be tolerated.

Pierre

Numerous *

Jamie

Remember a few short months ago when Pierre told us he thought Ozil was a waster and everything he says about Ozil here is a wind-up?

Pierre is a lonely lad, that much is clear.

Leedsgunner

Bellerin isn’t has good as he thinks he is, especially since his most long term injury and Ainsley Maitland Niles isn’t as bad as some here think he is. Along with Martinez, the standout player in FA Cup run last year was AMN. He should be nurtured and pushed to develop and not vilified. That’s why at the start of the last window Wolves offered £15m straight up. He is the right age, athletic and home grown and if our finances are as tight as people say they are we need more like him not less. Arteta has badly managed… Read more »

Danny S

Well Pierre, you have raised this issue 474,500 times……. a week and to be honest it’s pretty pointless as he’s never going to appear for us again.

You are just getting extremely repetitive and dull fir no apparent reason.

S Asoa

BFB
Can’t wait . It hurts but seeing nothing intelligent is being done , one gets angry.
Will wait for the next episode

Leedsgunner

*most recent

Pierre

“No player who causes so much division should be tolerated.”

Division?

Ozil’s team mates appear to like him and appreciate his qualities .

Danny S

Jamie

Pierre is just of that age where he likes to remember the good old days and cling to memories of better times.

We have a lot like that where I work, not bad in small doses but my god don’t they go on.

Pierre

On cue …the snide appears.

Tell us some more about Trump Jamie ..

Pierre

Danny s and Jamie , doing what they normally do ..

I’ll have a look in later when some want to talk football instead of making snide remarks.

Danny S

Pierre

You only have to go back through the papers. His whole career he’s been in and out of them for as many bad reasons as good.

Even the great Wenger had troubles with him.

The Real President talked about his attitude when he left them.

Don’t you have those people in life that are nice blokes to know but absolute cunts to manage?

Danny S

Wilko

Stroll up you melt. I have my reasons why I dispute it.

Danny S

Scroll*

Samesong

Leeds your’e right.

AMN had an off game last night. Granted I think he was rusty.
He is another player that thrives on confidence and Arteta hasn’t really helped him this season.
The one positive is we didn’t concede with him in defence and kept a clean sheet.

Danny S

Also Wilko, the number 10 role has evolved to where they actually work off the ball to close the opposition down.

Ozil is a passenger off the ball, he’s literally only good at one thing.

Teams will close him down or cut off his supply and he’s immediately nullified without the mentality to get the ball himself.

Samesong

Adam Lallana would of fitted the number 10 to role perfectly.

Crimson

Alberto Méndez Rodríguez

SpanishDave

Xhaka and AMN both give the ball away easily with no pressure.
Often Xhaka does this and then races after the player and commits a foul.
Our whole midfield is very mid table except Partey , it looks like nobody can be shifted and nobody is coming in.
Another wasted poor season coming up

Kroenkephobe

Pedro, Now that the club is being run by Garlick, it might be time to relaunch this site and call it “le clove”… I’ve already got me coat on”

Foxy

AMN would probably doing well playing every week in the same position under a good coach such as Ancelotti at Everton. We are just messing with his head.

Wingdings

Shit result
Shit football on display
Shit manager

Arteta out

JAMES WOOD

THE BFB 12.28..
“All aboard the good ship lollipop”
The Girliest ship on the Ocean?
Tiredness through the squad.?
Elite athletes playing the most
boring football i have ever seen
not one exciting player in the squad.

Can’t wait for your next instalment.

Danny+S

Wilko

There is when he does it every single post.

Gets v boring.

Bojangles

‘Well Pierre, you have raised this issue 474,500 times……. a week and to be honest it’s pretty pointless as he’s never going to appear for us again.

You are just getting extremely repetitive and dull fir no apparent reason.”

You can make the same claim about the comments about Arteta. He’s going nowhere until the end of the season at least.

Goobergooner

How does anyone think Ozil will come back into the team after all the shit that’s gone on and think he will give 100%, especially for a game plan that is too much for him (aka pressing) and considering he didn’t even give 100% the last few seasons he did play?

Yes we are missing creativity. But Ozil isn’t fixing that problem.

Nelson

I would replace Bellerin with AMN . AMN has the speed to run up the sideline and cross or cut back a la Tierney. Bellerin can’t do it any more. Also, I rather see AMN taking risk than Bellerin’s back passes. It bores the game to death.

I hate Green Bay

Duck me, can’t we drop the Ozil thing, he was terrible, went missing game after game, always ill, didnt play away at all.

grooveydaddy

So Mari will miss a few games appsrently.

Gabriel to slot back in?

Nelson

Yesterday, we missed Mari’s defensive header. CP could have headed in two goals.

Nelson

Ian Wright on Xhaka’s performance.
“Xhaka, one minute he was unbelievable, the next minute he was calamitous. WE were saying we needed a Xhaka cam!”

Graham62

Pierre are you from planet Zog?

MAXCAT

Thought that the squad was bloated…Now they are leggy….go figure.

Tenerife+Gooner

I thought Ceballos played well.He’s still not the long term answer.

Aussie+Gooner

So Teirney is out for a ‘few weeks’ having had an MRI scan and Mari will also miss a ‘few weeks’ with a calf strain. What goes on in training? The players are obviously trying harder in training to impress Arteta than they do on the pitch! Counter productive if they get injured in training and can’t play matches!

China1

Any other whisky lovers on here?

I wouldn’t claim to be an expert on the stuff but I sure do love a good scotch

Having a great night. Started on Rock Oyster which was a pleasant surprise and moved on to Talisker Skye which is bizarrely *much* nicer this time than when I first tried it last week. I’m wondering if it’s one of those that needs warming into… a bit like how Thatchers Katy cider tastes like ass when you have your first sip, but when you finish the bottle it’s absolutely gorgeous and you need another

China1

Talisker Storm* not Skye

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