I’ve been writing for a few weeks that the two most important games of the month would be the Southampton game and the United one. Last night, we passed with flying colours, beating a top 8 contender in fairly convincing style.
Arsenal switched back to their strongest 11, bar Gabriel who was out for Luiz, Tierney who was deputised by Cedric, and Auba who continues to miss action for reasons unknown.
Things started badly, Lacazette missed a one-on-one after 50 seconds, two minutes later we were done by an outrageous corner, Nicolas Pepe dozing on the edge of the box, Armstrong smashing home with a first-time finish.
We clawed our way back fairly quickly though. Pepe turned hero after Xhaka released him inside left, he used his body well, held off a strong challenge and bounced his shot off the ground high enough to fizz past the Southampton keeper.
Saka made it two. Lacazette made up for his early miss, guiding a Xhaka pass into Saka’s path. ‘Star boy’ broke the line, rounded the keeper and slotted home to make it two.
Our third was started by Cedric who switched play to Saka with a stunning pass. Bukayo took over, finding Lacazette at the back post for a tap-in. Amusing that Laca was writhing in agony by laughing at the same time after hitting the post with his body.
So what did we learn? Same thing we have done every week since Chelsea. We have a really exciting first team and when they play we look really decent.
What we learned today is there are a few surprise packages coming to life when it matters. Nicolas Pepe created five chances in the FA Cup game we lost, I thought he was fairly drossy in that game, but many cited the lack of a #10 to play with. We have to commend his performance tonight. He made a difference, he was a threat, and he put in a shift defensively. I’m not sure he’s good enough, but what he did last night was way better than we’ve been seeing.
Cedric was elite all game. Arteta reckons fitness has been the problem. Well, whatever it was, he’s showing his talent in the best of ways. He’s very efficient on the ball, he works like a demon, and say it quietly… he has a bit of sauce to his game. I was very impressed with him last night. Maybe he’s about to come good?
It goes without saying the Saka IS the sauce. It’s chilli sauce. He’s the little chilli because they pack the most flavour. Since the Chelsea game, he’s popping up with numbers. He’s an incredible talent and we are VERY lucky to have him at Arsenal getting better game after game.
Also, small shout for ESR. He didn’t land a goal or an assist, but he’s a class act. Brilliant movement, great work ethic, and an unpredictable game that makes him very difficult to play against. I love his first touch. What I love even more is how fast he moves the ball or makes a decision. He has a very simple game, executed efficiently. Just what we needed.
We have a HUGE game coming up this weekend. OGS has United purring. Rashford, Martial, Fernandes and Pogba are all buzzing… so it’ll be a very tough game. Wouldn’t it be magic if we could do some damage in that fixture?
Right, short post. Listen to our on-the-whistle podcast and I’ll see you in the comments.
It’s strange how fans perception of players change on Le Grove after a few wins and a few goals.. A couple of months back many on Le Grove were saying players like Lacazette, Holding , Xhaka , Leno , Mari and Cedric(and a few others) were not good enough , should be sold…. and they were the nice things written about them. Move on to now and Leno, Lacazette , xhaka and holding have become the spine of the side after a few victories and good performances. To me , these players are the same players they were 5 weeks… Read more »
2
3
4th?
nice one henley
Nice win. Would still rather be in the cup though.
@Pierre A pretty accurate breakdown there if you ask me. Mari and Cedric were getting pelters before even really pulling on the shirt, most of it was just because they were injured which was ridiculous. Like you say, Xhaka and Laca need to go in the summer, especially if they retain the form they are in/we are still getting positive results. Bellerin doesn’t appear to be able to perform above a 7 in my eyes, so when he has a bad one he drops quite significantly. I think having Tierney is showing what we miss at right back. I think… Read more »
For me saka’s super skill is he makes the correct desicion almost every game, when to lay off when to drive when to hold the bll, it’s like his footballing iq is off the charts, making the correct desicion every time is so incredibly hard. Obviously you need the technical ability to pull the desicion making off, but it’s in his brain is where is is mega mega elite, What’s fucking fantastic is having esr who is similar, these guys just bounce of each other, glorious last night to see players get the ball and think hes going to lose… Read more »
If cedric can become a little Montreal battler I will take it, his passing and vision looks a lot better than that though
The great thing is when you play ESR, Pepe, Saka, partey and Lacazette is that all of them offer something on the ball If the opposition focus their marking on Lacazette and ESR then they give room to Pepe and Saka Partey can break the lines and this allows Pepe or Saka who are pulling off their markers, inside wide, to become immediately dangerous. We have so many players now on and off the ball that it gives us what we’ve been lacking since emery first came in- VARIETY. It was always this team’s biggest issue going forward and now… Read more »
Shout out to my boy pepe as well, see yesterday his confidence was bang on he’s got his start he got his goal he’s nutmegging people, he needs good man management he isn’t a freeze out and expect him to recover mentally type guy.
Arseblog also noted his aerial retention, its not to be sniffed at versus Hugh press teams
I have been saying for month play Cedric over Bellend all day but our number 2 is the Spaniards golden boy
I’ve said for months (on other forums) that Pepe needs to be played more centrally and not stuck to the wing – its obvious he’s more of a threat closer to the box. He looked far more productive yesterday, maybe not 70m productive, but much more involved. It is also obvious that we should model Liverpool’s front line more… then trying to cross into the box with no one there to head?! What is more than obvious, is that Cedric should be starting over Bellerin every week when fit. Whilst I don’t believe Cedric is elite (although we looked very… Read more »
How nice and grown up to have a comment in the first post instead of all this childish 123 BS.
Congratulations Pierre and I agree with your post.
The problem with bellerin is he’s the manager’s favourite.
I read or saw an interview where he says that he looked after him when he played at the club and became a farther figure to him…..
So he’s not getting dropped or going anywhere..in fact he was captain last night for what that stands for now..
Pierre I largely agree with your overall appraisal but individually I’d keep Xakha Laca and Pepe Pepe 1st. He’s extremely talented but painfully introverted. It is the coach’s job to coax that out of him. You won’t get that by hanging him out to dry publicly the way Arteta has or dropping him and then giving him but parts to play in a shit second string alongside Willian. You do it by giving him a run of games with players who can find him where his most dangerous, floating around the final 3rd. He’s still offering up good numbers despite… Read more »
@Hitman49
“…So he’s not getting dropped or going anywhere..in fact he was captain last night for what that stands for now..”
This is really why I have no faith in Arteta as Manager… nothing and I mean NOTHING, jumps out for Bellerin to be captain – This favoritism is borderline madness!! Willian, Luiz, Bellerin, even Xhaka (though he’s not been playing badly in recent times) – these decisions are reckless.
Arteta has literally binned off better players for less… much less
Excellent win last night. After seeing West Ham go up to forth just before kickoff i demanded a win out of rage. And boy did we deliver.
And i don’t give a sh*t about the Saints injury list, i wanted blood and got three points of it.
Now lets dust ourselves down, go again and try and nick something against United on Saturday
@Pierre
I would let Nketiah spend a season on loan with the likes of Newcastle etc.. Willock? I just don’t rate him, so I would add him to the sell list along with Elneny instead of Xhaka. Bellerin might not be the worlds best crosser but he adds value to our team. Keep
Pierre
Xhaka has been at the club for like 5 years now, so they hate he gets isn’t knee jerk or out of the bloom. He’s been like this for years.. A good game here, a couple of ok games and then boom an error that cost the team (Brighton penalty that cost top 4).
SamesongJanuary 26, 2021 14:17:57 “There was Bergkamp63 I think saying that we were going to play a strong team tonight against Southampton. Well look what’s happened couple of injuries and Personal matters and now we are looking a tad weak. Whatever team Southampton put out wil be competitive. Can’t say the same about our lads.Big mistake not play a strong team against Southampton. Think we at least draw tonight at best. SamesongJanuary 26, 2021 14:18:56 *Big mistake not play a strong team against Southampton in the cup.” In your face loser ! The fact that we have been playing virtually… Read more »
Re Bell end as captain? It’s all a ploy by ARSETETA to Jack the price up when the inevitable tapping up/ knock on the door comes from the Barca bandits who won’t be able to help themselves( regardless of fact their nearly Bankrupt)Barca DNA & all that bollocks.£30/35 million ought to do the job this summer.Cedric is by far the superior right back.No question.They hopefully will reinvest that in a top young right back .maybe Max aerons at the carrot crunchers or lamtey at Brighton would be my choices.
Regarding Lacazette, if he has good service, he’s a 20 goal a season striker end of. Arteta was trying to make a target man out of him, everybody bar Arteta knew that this was a hopeless situation from the get go. Now that we are transitioning play faster, Lacazette is banging them in. If Arteta wants to base his attack on crosses again we are going to have to put an offer in for Giroud that Chelsea cannot refuse
Bergkamp63 fair play.
Calling me loser does that give you some type of power over me lol.
Same song,
Fair play to you, at least you haven’t skulked off into anonymity like many other have recently !
Having been one of our manager’s sternest critics, I must congratulate Arteta and the team for an impressive display of attacking football, full of intent and purpose. His strategy of playing Pepe and Cedric on the left paid dividends, both enjoying arguably their best games of the season. Turning the tables on one of the leagues best managers in the space of a few days is a creditable achievement. The question is, can Arteta continue with one of the biggest turnarounds in form in the Gunners recent history or will the wheels come off again? Saturday’s game is huge and… Read more »
A balanced Post Pedro. Pierre while I agree with the thrust of your comments it speaks to our lack of ambition. Our 1st X1 are not world beating but decent. Our squad is mid table at best. We won’t get sucked into a relegation fight but neither will we threaten top 4. We are bang average. If we get an injury or two to our main players we will sink back into the lower reaches of the division.
Hope all is well with Auba, just troubles me when the manager starts dedicating the win to him.
Same as the missing frequent members of the le-grove community such as Charlie and Marc.
Bergkamp63
We were never going to win the FA cup this year. I think the pride in being the FA cup holders and going out so easy got to me a little.
Incredible just how much Partey elevates that midfield. Having he effect Wenger for some reason thought Xhaka would
Samesong,
Agreed, Spurs have been getting easy draws in the comp, we had away to Southampton & away to Wolves, neither easy, then we would likely have met one of the big teams so the odds of us winning it this year simply wasn’t worth the risk of injuries, we are very much in the mix for a EL place with the majority of games against the top 6 at home to come.
We might still prevail in the EL or snatch 4th but not likely this year.
Good post Pierre. Nice to have mature comment on here mate. It seems daft to sound repetitive but Arteta is doing things in stages – as every good manager does. Klopp did the same when he arrived at Liverpool he sorted them out defensively and slowly educated the players in the way he wanted to play. There was a time when he was getting pelters from the Journos and the Playstation fanboy who thinks building a team is simply picking 11 players on a Matchday. people who know more about football stuck with him. The same happened with red nose,… Read more »
MrJ
I couldn’t agree more with you….
I actually thought Southampton looked the better team.. in they closed down better got out of our half hearted press easily..
The only difference was we had better quality of players in the final 3rd that’s all and I’m afraid that’s not enough..
Arteta is way way out of his depth game management is poor, playing style lacking still, and as for man management I don’t think he has a clue…
Dissenter
“Hope all is well with Auba, just troubles me when the manager starts dedicating the win to him”.
Why?
I know you always seek a negative narrative on here and never have a positive thing to say but it’s a decent thing for Arteta to do. I lost my Mum a few months ago cancer, the effect on everyone is huge. People supporting you really helps so comments like yours just show a total lack of humility.
Pierre after a loss:
“Be careful what you wish for they said ….how true., you’ve got the Arsenal and the football you deserve”
Pierre after a win:
“It’s strange how fans perception of players change on Le Grove after a few wins and a few goals..”
Always trying to reposition himself as le-grove’s voice of reason like there’s no record of all the flip-flopping he does. Funny.
“Uwot?”
Good post re the Bellerin situation and potential replacements. Pretty much how i see it playing out
Winthorpe I just think that if we want to compete for the title then we need better quality in the positions i mentioned. It’s fine for this season , they are playing to their maximum now and showing that they are good players, which to me makes them sellable assets. I have no idea if our young guns are good enough other than Saka definitely, Smith Rowe almost definitely but still early days…the rest in my mind have a question mark though i would really like to see Martinelli and Balogun get a good run to show what they can… Read more »
Bergkamp63 “The fact that we have been playing virtually 3 games a week since September is completely lost on many single cell organism’s that dwell on here, these are not machines and they will break if you keep playing them to that extent. Not so many years ago on this very site, Pedro was shouting about how we were top of the PL in terms of muscle injuries through over playing and over training, this season has been consertina’d into a smaller timeframe which is going to exacerbate muscle injuries particularly towards the back end of the season”. This. Arteta… Read more »
AFC F,
Just ignore them, they have an agenda against Arteta and will have nothing worthwhile to contribute as long as he is Manager.
I would wager those who have not done very well in life will likely always have a chip on their shoulder and have nothing outside of this blog site.
Lol! Why not post your positive thoughts and discuss with those who see things same way you do? Why the constant need to shame the “negatives” or police the narrative
This is why we are fans Pierre, some know fuck all and some know a little bit more. Cedric and Mari were written off by some after 1 game..
Xhaka this time last year couldnt stand him but after watching him this last few weeks he has looked good.. At least 2 Fabregas type passes yesterday (And No im not comparing to Cesc)
It’s clear Man City are going to go on now and win the league.
Liverpool are really struggling, it’ can’t just be losing Van Dijk. Makes you wonder if that high pressing game without a decent pre-season has effected their legs. Or desire.
The Bard I agree, take 2-3 key players out of this team, and we’ll struggle. As much as I’d have loved another FA cup win Having 2 objectives instead of 3, will benefit us, particularly with the weight of this season schedule Partey and Smith-Rowe struggling to get through 90 minutes is a worry As is Tierney’s injury record, full back is such a physically demanding role, and it’s clear we’re going to have to manage Tierney’s game time carefully to maximise his potential Hopefully Odegaard is fit, he’s not played much football, and we need him to hit the… Read more »
I would imagine any teams who like the high pressing game will suffer badly this season as it progresses, Man City have the squad to do it, nobody else does.
Hard to see beyond them.
AFCForever
Honestly just shut it and get off your high horse with this ‘negativity’ mantra you keep running.
I was just hoping there’s nothing serious going with the player . People don’t typically dedicate stuff to things that aren’t of gravity.
Take the branch out of your ass and stop seeing ulterior agenda in every post people make.
AFC. Great post.
Liverpool are really struggling, it’ can’t just be losing Van Dijk. Makes you wonder if that high pressing game without a decent pre-season has effected their legs. Or desire.
A lot of LFC fans I know are sick of Friminos lack of end product and his final ball descion making skills. There also not to happy about Salah selfishness when doesnt pass to mane 😂😂. They feel they lack squad depth and have too many wasted players around.
Odd to hear how the other side complains
C’mon. Say it loud and clear. Arteta is the right man for the job.
Any dissenters?
Italian teams should be thrown out of Europe: “According to the new “Blasphemy Law,” the Italian FA allows referees to send off any player who says God’s name in vain. The player could also get suspended by the FA if the referee did not punish him. In this case, all you need is a replay, which confirms the player was saying “God.” Buffon promptly explained the misunderstanding by saying that he spoke out the word “Zio” (Uncle) and not the word “Dio” (God).” Don’t lie Luigi. Just tell them to fuck off, get the 1 match blasphemy ban, and then… Read more »
Arteta IS the right man for the job and always was,
People forget Fergie failed in his first 3 years at Man U and Klopp in his first job got relegated after 6 seasons, failed to get promotion the following season then resigned.
I am not saying he will turn out to be as successful as either but success is not linear.
Guns
Yep. Liverpool last season were something else.
Got to be something wrong there, they have fallen off a cliff. Taken a couple of big beatings too. As I said, that high press game is demanding and the lack of pre-season my have something to do with it. Van Dijk is a huge loss but there is more to it than that.
AFC
Trent Arnold has lost his touch, he was putting it on a sixpence every week.
This season he is missing the mark , just shows how important confidence is to a player at this level …any level really.
Rich
“I agree, take 2-3 key players out of this team, and we’ll struggle.”
Isn’t this the same for every team?
Pierre,
Confidence is definitely not at the level of last season. Mind you, this season has shown just how important crowds are.
It’s Official!
Dissenter
Thank you for your response.
Instead of telling me to go somewhere now you’re telling me to have sexual relationships with a piece of timber. You are a weird fantasist.
EnglandsBest I don’t know if Arteta is the best man for the job, Managers don’t get enough time to work, and fans are far too knee jerk Football fans are great at declaring a new managers needs time, and 4-5 transfer windows to turn things around Then after 6 months and a few bad results, revert to screaming for the manager to be sacked, before he can implement the changes they wanted Success isn’t earned over a few months, it’s earned over longer periods than that Change is often painful, you need to go through difficult moments in order to… Read more »
Odegaard announced officially.
Absolutely buzzing but we still have a long way to go but we’re gradually getting in shape and the team slowly getting intoned with what the manager wants fitness permitting we might make a late fight back and savage something from this season. But the starts are aligning the squad players(Luiz,Cedric and pepe) are performing can’t wait for the rest to catch up confidence is a very vital cog in football it’s kinda underrated you can see with Saka xhaka laca how much they’re playing with full belief in their abilities and working hard and enjoying themselves also. More of… Read more »
Jamie
“Always trying to reposition himself as le-grove’s voice of reason like there’s no record of all the flip-flopping he does”
Ha ha, Jamie getting triggered due to fans agreeing with me…
Can see him now , steam coming out of his ears as he goes back through all the comments I’ve written , looking for evidence..
It’s called having an opinion Jamie….you should try it sometime.
The jury is still out as far as Arteta is concerned. His goal this year was a top 4 finish or Champions League qualification via winning the Europa League. That was the standard that Emery was held to and I don’t see why Arteta should be held to a lower standard just because he’s a novice manager. He knew Arsenal was a big club and its expectations. If he doesn’t match those he should be given his marching orders as soon as the season finishes. If Chelsea can fire and hire their managers within hours, I don’t see why we… Read more »
Regarding Lacazette, if he has good service, he’s a 20 goal a season striker end of. Arteta was trying to make a target man out of him, everybody bar Arteta knew that this was a hopeless situation from the get go. Now that we are transitioning play faster, Lacazette is banging them in.
Lacazette joined Arsenal in the Wenger era when we had “Mr Assist” playing at the club and Lacazette did not score 20 goals..
Arteta has nothing to do with it.
Batistuta
“Why not post your positive thoughts and discuss with those who see things same way you do? Why the constant need to shame the “negatives” or police the narrative”
So what exactly are you saying? Don’t do what you have just done? or does that only apply to posters who who write positive comments?
Chika “Isn’t this the same for every team” Not every team, United, City have good depth And not every team competes in Europe We can get away with our second string in the group stages, but as the season progresses, we’ll need to play key players more, which means more injuries The level of the mid table clubs has improved, when we’re playing three times a week, and they’re playing twice, they’ll have the advantage They’re be less likely to get injuries, and be able to keep their players fresh We’ve got a elite CL club wage bill, and a… Read more »
*then can have…
Raulushyss.
Confidence is everything to a footballer. A player lacking confidence hides, doesn’t want the ball and takes extra touches. Doesn’t help when people jump on their backs, it usually makes them play worse. Players can play into form because form is a a temporary, fluid thing.
One conclusion we made from last night is that Tierney and Cedric should be our first choice starters. Bellerin is just not good enough Whereas Tierney and Cedric look at going forward and being proactive, Bellerin, more often than not, plays sideways and backwards. His legs and strength are just not there. It was also clear that Luiz is incapable of concentrating for the entire game ( we knew this anyway). There was a period with about ten minutes left that Luiz had brain freeze.. A goal then for Southampton would have made the last few minutes very nervy. For… Read more »
Leeds
I assumed the goal this year was team building. I may be wrong though, I have no access to board meetings etc. Gaining top 4 seemed more like a fan set goal.
Odegaard announced on the dot com
Odegaard takes the No11 from Torreira
Not the No10
There was a rumour the No10 has been promised to Martinelli next season
Hopefully we’ll be able to sell Torreira this month
I wonder if we’ll see Ødegaard as a super sub in the United game now he’s all ofishal like
Arteta was probably right about Cedric’s initial issues revolving around fitness. His game is very much based on speed and high intensity which suits the modern game and now that he is actually one of our fittest and fastest players he is easily outperforming Bellerin in both defence and attack. Also Cedric seems much better at intelligently combining down the right with Saka and ESR than Bell or AMN as illustrated in the Newcastle game.
Bojanglesi
I don’t think it was a fan set goal because I’ve read from multiple sources that Willian was sold to the club by Arteta on the premise that Willian wanted to win the Champions League with Arsenal within three years…and Arteta thought at the time that he would be a crucial part in achieving this goal.
Top 4 is my goal for Arteta in any case. With the resources and facilities at his disposal it should be more than possible.
Bojanglesi Isn’t it funny how fans can moan about the players being rubbish, yet set the Manager a target of finishing 4th. They just hate managers. Perhaps it’s fun constantly rebuilding because you have to be a prize plonker if you think a manager can build a title-winning team in a season. This isn’t computer simulation it is time on the training ground and transfer windows. Arteta won the FA Cup in his first season but still got abused. I bet Liverpool fans are happy Klopp was given time. And Man Utd Fergie. And Southampton after their Manager watched his… Read more »
Leeds
“With the resources and facilities at his disposal it should be more than possible”.
With all due respect, you have been slagging off the players as not being good enough. Are you now saying the players have miraculously improved and are now top 4 players? If they have miraculously improved, what has been the reason for that?
Top 4 was never on the cards unless you are a fantasist or living in 2015,
Our squad was full of overpaid dross and we are still trying to offload it, fair play to Edu if it is him who is shifting out the deadwood finally, still lots more to do but getting there slowly.
Will take until Aug 22 to really see the new Arsenal rebirth.
Odegaard looks like Denis Suarez..I hope that similarities end there
PierreJanuary 27, 2021 10:54:40 Winthorpe I just think that if we want to compete for the title then we need better quality in the positions i mentioned. It’s fine for this season , they are playing to their maximum now and showing that they are good players, which to me makes them sellable assets.I have no idea if our young guns are good enough other than Saka definitely, Smith Rowe almost definitely but still early days…the rest in my mind have a question mark though i would really like to see Martinelli and Balogun get a good run to show… Read more »
People are giving credit to Arteta for given up on the FA Cup to win a League game. Of course there is a need to rotate. But the offense of our B team was so unprepared as if the players didn’t know each other at all. With the Europa Cup games coming up, Arteta needs to improve quickly to deal with the heavy schedule.We should always put out a competitive team.
Having seen his pictures in Arsenal kit all I can think of is Dennis Suarez.. PTSD and all. Like Kenyan said I hope the similarities end in their identical appearance
We can still win the Champions League in 3 seasons without top 4 this season
Martin Odegaard on Arteta:
“I spoke to him before coming here.That was very important for me & he seems like a top manager & I liked his ideas,the way he sees football & also the way he is.He gave me a great feeling & that was important for me to come here.He was crucial.
Arteta in !!!
Is being on pot , euphoria of a result ?
Or being simply potty ?
I would take a point against Man Utd now in truth, can’t remember the last time we did the double over them in the same season ?
That would really be something !
AFC I don’t know who you’ve been reading I have not criticised the squad consistently… apart from Willian Xhaka and Luiz. They are simply not good enough. I have great faith in our youngsters and personally if it was up to me I would give the like likes of Willock, AMN, Nelson and Nketiah more chances to play together… and I’ve highlighted my faith in them. However if the manager doesn’t think they are ready he should do them a favour and either loan them or sell them with the requisite buyback clauses. I would like to think I call… Read more »
Foxy
Cedric is a good player. 33 caps for Portugal and a member of the team that won the EURO’s. What I like about him is that he seems comfortable with and without the ball and is a two footer. His delivery is good too, an area that lets Bellerin down.
Leeds
Who knows what Arteta told or promised Willian. It may have come from a genuine source or a copy boy with a mischievous sense of humour.
We are all entitled to have our thoughts on where we would like to finish.
Arsenal’s starting X1 is beginning to take shape. There are still two to three holes to be filled if we are going to compete for top 4 place in EPL and qualify for Champions League. However, as I have posted on many occasions the key to building a decent team is stability and not constant changes and experimentation. As is usual on Le Grove there are too many posters who shoot from the hip whenever we play badly or lose a game. Arteta and Edu have been heavily criticised by many who post on here. Let’s be clear they were… Read more »
Judging from last night’s performance there can be no doubt that Cedric should be playing at rb in place of Bellerin.Pepe is far more suited to playing on the left hand side.Partey and ESR are absolutely vital to team results but are struggling a bit physically at the moment…and need to be carefully nutured..Saka is still improving and is beginning to develop into a real player at Arsenal….Arteta is still deluded in his belief that Willian has something to offer this team.Xhaka and Luiz need to be closely monitored in the latter stages of games as they are still both… Read more »
Cheers Leeds. Young players are always a challenge for any manager. You never know how their temperaments is going to stand up to playing at a higher and more unforgivable level. Arteta has done a great job, trying to give them all time. He has bought Saka on so much he now already looks one of our best players. Saka has said how encouraging Arteta is and that he has also benefitted from playing with Lacazette; experienced players provide that additional part of the learning process. Arteta has bought ESR through too. So that’s two youngsters from the academy that… Read more »
There’s a name for people who insist that others adhere to their particular agenda – Cultists.
I don’t have a problem with anyone be they posting positive or negative comments about a particular player, manager or whatever. Then again I’m not so pompous as to believe that my thoughts on any one subject are the right and only possible reasonable opinion,
Probably not surprising though, AFC have had a huge number of these people drifting around since the cult of personality around a previous manager was formed and they simply can’t break the habit.
Why are we lowering the expectations all of a sudden!? Are we a big club or not? Isn’t the reason why we moved to the Emirates to win the biggest and best trophies?
If clubs like Leicester can mix it with the best, why can’t we?
Top 4 has always been a widely recognised standard for us… All I want is to hold our manager accountable to the highest standards and expectations. This is not being negative or critical. This is believing in the club and believing that we can and we should be achieving more than we are now.
People saying if we lose a couple of players we are knackered and rightly so, there are 3-4 players who are crucial for how we want to play.
On the flipside, apply that to pretty much every team bar City and you get the same result.
If you lose your most crucial players to function it is going to be bad news, you don’t have world class players sitting on the bench waiting for it. (again barring City in most positions).
Batistuta
Is this the kind of comment you were referring to?
“Arteta in !!!
Is being on pot , euphoria of a result ?
Or being simply potty ?”
Looks like the last time we did the double over Man Utd was 1997/1998 season.
Marc Overmars I think with the winner at old Trafford in March 98 !
Emirrates agree with much of that but not about Holding. He is a proper defender who stays on his feet. He made a couple of vital challenges yesterday and gets is head on most corners and balls into the box. He takes responsibility and has a great attitude. You need that playing with Luiz when he has his moments of madness. He is better paired with Gabriel and Mari with whom he can build a strong partnership. Your point about playing two games a week is bang on. Exactly what Arteta said, answering the interviewer’s question about the Cup game… Read more »
Leeds
I don’t see it as lowering our expectations. If you have to build a team, top 4 is not a realistic expectation. Of course nobody would complain if we managed to get top 4 this season.
According to a report in the Daily Star, Ødegaard will be handed the 11 shirt.
That’s right, Odegaard is #11 on Arsenaldotcom.
Bergkamp63 “Top 4 was never on the cards unless you are a fantasist or living in 2015, Our squad was full of overpaid dross and we are still trying to offload it, fair play to Edu if it is him who is shifting out the deadwood finally, still lots more to do but getting there slowly.” This. You only have to look at the Ozil situation, that was a noose around Arteta’s neck. We know someone was leaking mischievous stories and that’s the last thing a coach needs. Especially with young players, you need good examples and everyone fighting for… Read more »