Let me start this blog by saying: there is no such thing in Arsenal fandom as ‘crowing after a win.’
Arsenal vs Spurs, wherever you stand on the spectrum, was a win for us all. If you feel aggrieved after a NLD win, let me be clear, f*ck off with your ‘views,’ no one cares what you have to say. You can have an opinion, but the litmus test for whether it lives here after a dominant NLD win against Jose Mourinho is whether you can be happy. If you can’t, who are you? Why bother?
Now, let’s crack into what was a glorious day for Arsenal.
The big menace to the narrative before we’d even kicked a ball was that Auba was benched. When I originally heard it, I was over the moon. The game was about control, movement was key, sometimes our captain is eaten up by good defenders in deep-blocks. Then it turned out that he was dropped over discipline. It was a non-negotiables move because he’d turned up late to the team meeting. This wasn’t the first time either, I’ve heard plenty of sloppy stories about him prior to this, beyond just lateness.
Let’s be clear. The decision was absolutely correct. Lee Dixon said, ‘if the club meeting is at 10:00, you show up at 09:50’, and he’s right. Basic rules keep order and structure in a chaotic profession. Timekeeping is an absolute minimum, on the face of it, it feels unimportant, but really… it’s all about respect for leadership and respect for one another.
There’s a famous Van Halen story. On their gig rider, they’d demand all brown M&Ms were removed, if they landed at a venue and they weren’t, they’d pull out, because if the management couldn’t take care of a bag of sweets, how could they be trusted to host a complex gig?
If you can’t take care of the small details as a leader, how can you be trusted with the big ones?
When the standard-bearers breach the code of conduct, it has to be addressed, otherwise, leadership is weakened because everyone else is watching and judging. Those decisions are HARD to make as a leader. There is nothing more difficult than having to pull a high performer to one side and tell them they broke the rules. It is easier to let it slide. But it ALWAYS costs you trust capital in the long run. Auba is a HUGE character at Arsenal, but turning up late for a NLD meeting, when the young players are analysing every moment for positive cues, well, it’s hugely embarrassing.
My only wish? Arteta told the press the move was tactical.
Still… weaker leaders like Emery would have caved. If you have ever led in a high-performance culture, you’d not question the decision. Anyone that tells you Arteta was wrong is a bad leader, a weak person, or they lead in an environment where the work is inconsequential. Basically, anyone that tells you they’d accept repeat lateness to company meetings from their most senior talent is a joke… there’s no counterargument.
Now, onto the game.
Did Arsenal miss a beat over Auba? No. You knew this would be a performance from minute two. ESR, MO, and Saka worked the ball like demons. We absolutely controlled possession, like we have done in nearly every game since Christmas, and we made Spurs look average.
Spurs weren’t bad, we were good. Let’s get that straight. This performance wasn’t a surprise. It was a continuation of the good football plenty of us have been championing. They had no answers because that’s the new Arsenal. We restrict chances, dominate possession, and we’re really, really hard to beat (unless we offer it up as a gift).
The first half was all about ESR. Starboy #2 showed up with a vengeance. It was his best performance yet. He absolutely destroyed Doherty down the left. There was a point when I called the Arsenal abuse hotline to report breach of club rules on the pitch because it was so humiliating.
‘Sir, could you calm down and tell me what you see’
‘He’s the blonde one on the pitch and I’ve watched him put this Spurs chap in his pocket for like, the 5th time in 10 minutes. It’s awful to watch, I think this guy has family watching, they’re crying. Please send a steward’
ESR hit the bar, created 4 chances, his pass completion was 97% (against a deep block), he was a fucking menace. The kid the melts called ‘average’ absolutely savaged Spurs. By the end of the half, they were trebling up on him and still losing.
But, for all the chance creation, the possession dominance, and the twice rattled woodwork… we still conceded first. Spurs who offered nothing finally found space in our area, Erik Lamela received a terrible short pass slightly behind him and had to pivot his movement to low punch a rabona past 5 Arsenal players into the bottom corner. It was disgustingly flukey, average to look at, and against the run of play… but predictably part of the Arsenal script of late. It felt like the new norm… Arteta was cursed… the Arsenal would always perform well, but forever be fucked over in the most outrageous of ways.
I thought we’d melt, we did not. ESR and Tierney worked some magic down the left, Tierney picked out Odegaard in the Spurs box, the Norwegian captain kind of buried his first-time strike. Game on. Notable how fast we had players in their box all game, compare that to pre-Chelsea, it’s a really bit of progression.
Arsenal fans were talking about what Spurs could do in the second half to tighten up. Errr, not many options beyond the Tony Pulis shithousing they’d started the game with… so it was always going to be game on in the second half. Spurs had a little bit more to offer, Lucas Moura was problematic at times, but again, the game plan from Jose was simple and bland: get it to Kane 3 times and he’ll score once. Kind of staggering that a manager of Jose’s caliber doesn’t build a system that has him on the ball all game. He’s so, so good.
Anyway…
We scored the third goal. Nicolas Pepe came on at halftime for Saka (pray for him). He volleyed a loose ball pass at Lacazette first time, the Frenchman lashed at the ball, but was smashed by Sanchez at the same time. The ref went to the VAR. I thought it’d be overturned. The ref disagreed… the penalty was given. Laca stepped up and buried his kick. Another perfect penalty.
Spurs started to play nasty. Harry Kane got away with an ‘I AM AN IMPORTANT ENGLAND PLAYER’ shoulder barge on Gabriel. Argentine Erik Lamela didn’t get away with a slap to Tierney’s face and was red-carded.
THAT DID NOT END THE STRUGGLE. Thomas Partey was more like Thomas-OH-MY-GOD-BAD-Partey for the last 15. He was flipping possession and giving away freekicks in Harry K zones like a 20-year-old Carling Cup debutant. Arteta looked like he was pacing the halls in a hospital with a wife giving birth in hour 79 to a 39lbs baby, I’ve never seen someone drink a bottle of water with more pent-up aggravation. Kane rattled the post with one effort (how bad was the carefully constructed wall?!?), the follow-up headed away by Gabriel (HERO). Kane also whipped a really nice cross that Alli missed, as well as having a goal disallowed for a clear offside. It was not a comfortable end, it was turbulence over the Bermuda triangle… if you exited with clean whites, you’re a person with sharper control of their sphincter than me.
We closed the game out after 34 minutes of extra time and took a HUGE win.
In 15 months, Arteta has taken down all of the top 6 managers, Mourinho the most irritating of them all.
So where are we?
What I am hoping is that the game went some way towards vindicating the positive narrative I’ve been pushing over the last few weeks (ok, 15 months lololol).
Arsenal are not the complete package. But we are offering up something the best clubs do before they bang. We are hard to beat, we’re controlling games, and we are creating high-quality chances over and over again.
Quick round-ups:
- Kieran Tierney is a beast and he should be our future captain. He’s fu*king immense. I love him.
- Lacazette missed some chances, but he worked wonders dropping deep to bring the creators into the game. HUGE performance for me.
- Nico. We thought he was on his way out. He’s taking on Kanu vibes. He took his chance in the second half, looked interested, stayed focused, delivered the pass of the game that led to the penalty.
- Martin O. Honestly, were people calling him average? This guy is mustard. Efficient, surprisingly fast, a really, really hard worker… and he turned up with a goal. We need him next season and there has to be a BUY option.
- Great insurance is a product you don’t notice. David Luiz and Gabriel were immense. Super tidy, disciplined, and clever all game. Keeping that Spurs front line quiet is NOT easy, they did it.
- Cedric deserved to start. He seemed a little fearful of Moura at times, but overall, I love his pace, his compactness, and his solid attributes both ends. A great game from him.
- GRANIT. The man has had plenty of criticism from this site, so I will not deny him. He was brilliant. Loads of clever movement, some big tackles, and really positive game. He’s our second-best midfielder, even with the errors, his inclusion is no longer controversial. We have to accept that.
It is totally acceptable to say the last 15 were nervy. We have to get better at seeing out games… but again, context, we sneeze at the wrong moment of late and someone scores. This team has been punished to the max every time they make a mistake since January. I am not surprised they were panicked going into the last phase of the game. We’ll improve that each game we stop doing dumb things.
We aren’t going to compete for the league this season, what we might do is win some big games that make the fans believe there’s something special brewing.
Against Spurs, you saw the special sauce. You can’t deny it now. That wasn’t a fluke. That game has been brewing since December 29th. Where are the ‘he plays bland football because that’s how he was as a player’ crowd now?
The first 45 was the best since Arteta took charge. We play attractive football which I’d class now as a clear identity. We are now a progressive side, there’s always an interesting plan with innovative features. We are competitive in every single game these days.
Remember that time when people said Klopp couldn’t coach a good defence? Then he bought good defenders and a keeper and everything clicked. Arsenal are maybe a year out from that. Spurs didn’t bank on that today, they didn’t have control of that game at any point, they were flustered and upset. That wasn’t a bad performance, that was a tactical masterclass by Arteta.
That was the sauce.
Now, we could lose on Thursday. We could lose at the weekend. Point is, would you take the Spurs project over the one Arteta is offering up? No. Would you take the Everton one? No. Do you still want the Southampton one? No. Are you still wondering about Nuno? No. The Arsenal project is a good summer away from proper top 4. It’s two good summers from competing for the league. The absolute joke is we’re now 7 points off 5th, 10 from 4th, and we play Chelsea, West Ham, Liverpool, and Everton out of that pack.
Progressive coaching is the future of the game, it’s finally clicking for Arsenal, and regardless of what happens the rest of this season… it’s clear that Arteta is the best coach for us moving forward. There’s no one better for the role. He’s done enough since December to prove that. Next season is going to be way, way better… I am absolutely clear on that.
Now let’s see what he has for the rest of the season.
Europa now feels doable. Who knows in the league. For now, let’s enjoy beating the scum. It’s been a while.
See you in the comments.
P.S. Listen to the latest podcast. Matt goes so hard at ESR lovin’, the player might put out an injunction. Johnny admits he might finally be a believer (Check out his excellent fatherhood pod here). I just have a lot of fun because that was special.
1st
Missed the game
No internet for 24hrs
Tr4phy
Europa, or champions league if city win it
F@#king excellent getting woken up by all the alerts on my phone as soon as internet was back on this morning!
Groovey
Welcome back. You missed a rather good, if slightly nerve-wracking, game of football. 😉
We were fucking miles better than them!
Great win. Still buzzing.
I’m awake at 5am here and my first thought was about yesterday’s game. Obsessed!
I give Arteta a lot of stick you as well Pete for your blind faith. Well done to him yesterday! Got everything spot on. Only criticism, we should’ve absolutely battered them. Especially the first 20 and no Maritnelli :'( ESR what a player. Not uncomfortable playing out wide either played there loads in his U18’s season & did well. Hale enders are the way not bums like Willian who’s absolutely killed Reiss, Martinelli & Willock for what???. These lads are talented, hungry & want to prove themselves. Next hale enders to be excited about. Mat Smith, John-Jules, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Omari… Read more »
Tierney might give us the possibility of finally having a replacement for Cole in the best Arsenal XI line-ups.
Nice one Pedro. I agree with a lot of that. Best result of the season so far clearly. Not sure I agree with your assessment of their goal. Notwithstanding the fact that it was scored by an irredeemably vindictive gobshite (a product of River Plate – say no more), it was nevertheless quite a goal. It went through Parteys legs because he rightly expected him to play the ball with his right foot so he was lined up to block that. It actually underscores the overall strength of our performance that we conceded such a goal. All our players had… Read more »
Spuds game plan really helped us. Then Maureen threw his players under the bus and blames the ref.
St. Totteringham’s day might just be back on this year if we can rotate enough on Thursday to put out a competitive team against West Ham on Sunday.
Mostly excellent post, Pedro. A little tough on Thomas as he was absolutely on his last legs near the end when many of his mistakes happened. I love first-half Thomas though. The ball was already drifting away from Laca after he sliced it. Then Sanchez flew into him. Still a penalty in my book but the miss and the tackle weren’t concurrent. Totally agree on your Auba comments (right decision, poorly communicated) and glad you gave a special mention to Xhaka and Laca’s overall play. Not to bitch and moan but a few of us noticed how fluid we were… Read more »
“Point is, would you take the Spurs project over the one Arteta is offering up? No. Would you take the Everton one? No. Do you still want the Southampton one? No. Are you still wondering about Nuno?” No, no , and no. Everton are one of the more boring sides to watch under Carlo, but Mourinho is the biggest flake of them all. Arteta gets all the credit from me for the team set up and Auba exclusion but I disagree Jose tactics had nothing to do with their performance. You don’t have to look any further than the last… Read more »
Pedro You are not going to be popular with many who post on this site, but I agreee with most of what you write. Arsenal are beginning to look like a “team” and that is far more important than the constant critique of individuals. The only disagreement which I have got with what you posted is about Lacazette. His function in the team is to score goals and not to run deep and then be out of position when players on flank cross balls. We need a striker who can convert chances on a more regular basis than he does.… Read more »
A super performance and great win. Its just the finishing or lack of that would be the big worry for me. We are dominating teams and pressing keeping a good tempo, we are creating but our finishing ratio to chances must be absolutely terrible. Even yesterday take our two goals, the first was a deflected fluff shot, the second from a penalty after Laca had compeltely mishit the ball. Add in the two posts hit and its pretty typically us. We get in so many crosses each game and nobody even contesting them. We need to start converting more of… Read more »
Who should it be in the summer: Buendia or Ordegaard?
Arsenal have two very weak players at the moment who contribute nothing to the speed and flow of play. They are Lacazette, who tries to turn every tackle he receives into a Red card offence. For ever on the ground and his work rate is pathetic. Partey, unfortunately cannot make a decent pass or tackle. He should not be playing at this level when there are so many others that would give their eye teeth for a chance to play.
Just rewatching it now. The post match exchange between Tets and Mourinho is interesting. Tets gives him a hug and over effusively rubs his back up and down with both hands. Bet that really wound the grumpy Portugeezer up no end. Marvellous.
I always wondered why we were the only European club interested in Aubameyang. I be,eave Wenger eag,e expressed the same concerns at the time.
There’s something wrong with a club captain who repeatedly turns up late fit tram meetings.
The Daily Mail [trash as they are] is reporting that Aubameyang was the first player to leave after the spuds game; 23 minutes after kick-off. He left while Arteta was doing doing post match interviews.
I’m not so sure how this ends.
“If you feel aggrieved after a NLD win, let me be clear, f*ck off with your ‘views,’ no one cares what you have to say.”
😂😂Jeez man. You came out swinging
*There’s something wrong with a club captain who repeatedly turns up late for team meetings
What a clown Jose is for making the we are looking up not down comment and then setting his team up like it was an away leg of CL semifinal against peak Barca.
Imagine being a Spurs supporter yesterday, seeing a front 3 of Son Kane and Bale, and watching Mourinho’s park-the-bus tactics.
Lovely.
Can I say it again, I want KT on a long term deal, the guy will win big titles with us or somebody else, we need to tie him down he could be a club legend and captain, 140 for 5 yrs for a genuine leader and captain is cheap, get rid of Willian and put the money in there please
The Atheltic is reporting that , Aubameyang took no time to leave the Emirates Stadium in his expensive sports car and did not do a post-match warm down with the rest of the unused substitutes from Sunday’s win over Tottenham.
Jamie
You can add Lucas to that front four who’s literally an energizer bunny.
How appropriate Son pulled a hammy in his first sprint after standing around for 20 minutes too, as per Jose’s set up.
ESR has levels, quite amazing in this game even at the top level there are only relatively a few players that can receive the ball and turn, drive whilst staying secure with it. It’s rare, great talent who has so much further to grow, will be exciting.
Getting odegaard is a good as it unverdens ESR, he is a one game a week guy right now not 2, let’s manage him and watch him grow
KT is a dream. Remember when CG was desperate to convince everyone KT was a crock-jock dud?
Tick tock truth hurts.
I know there is a lot of love for laca as he’s basically a passion merchant and has some nice qualities in his game but realistically if you want levels to this team you need a top shooter, auba is that guy. Yesterday we could have been 2 3 up cruising with some finishing and movement. Yes auba is a little limited in build up but if you have a structure behind it works. Scoring goals is about getting the last 5pc of the move correct and auba has that in hatfulls, good on laca but auba is the man… Read more »
The Hardest thing in Man management .Discipline your best People.
KT makes football very simple, isolate him 1 on 1 with a fullback, 80pc of the time he will get to an area to cross or pullback, all you have to do it flood the box and you can score, football is easy sometimes when you aheb the right quality of player
I missed the game yesterday but followed on twitter and I am still elated at a convincing performance and how we totally outplayed Spurs.
Hope we keep building on this kind of performance.
Hats off to cedric as well, nice and proficient footballer, I like bellerin but he basically got by with crazy pace, it’s not enough as he now looks like he is kicking a Mellon around the pitch, can we upgrade here please with cedric covering both wings
Laca’ s deteriorating by the day.
Had the ref not given that penalty we would be talking about his three air balls in the game.
Had the ref not given that penalty, we would be talking at a striker that “leaves” a shooting opportunity to a phantom team mate.
I hope we aren’t considering giving him an extension,
Squads are assembled through the transfer market and youth system, but they’re built on the training ground Team cohesion and squad balance is such an underrated aspect of building a successful team, managers generally don’t get enough time to work I do think we’re very well setup as a team, but there’s a limit for how far good coaching can take us, it’s ultimately the talent on the pitch than win and lose football games, football is often a game of fine margins in and around both penalty boxes The main difference between yesterday’s brilliant win, and our 2-0 loss… Read more »
I like Auba and his goal scoring record speaks for itself but even though Laca isn’t exactly clinical, his hard work rate while dropping into mid payed dividends yesterday.
I don’t think you would’ve got that from Auba.
Has Rich overtaken Emirates as the story teller on this blog jeeeeez.
Yeah Pedro ESR delivered an absolute fisting down the left and didn’t even have the decency to put lube on his hand. Tierney as well. The two of them took that RB way beyond the point of ‘it’s just a game’ and into the ‘you’re making me doubt why I play this game’ territory Tho you gotta say as elite as they were he was awful. Rarely seen a player get skinned so many times and his positioning was consistently awful. He didn’t get anything right As well like I said arsenal were excellent yesterday, thoroughly good value for the… Read more »
Dissenter
As I posted Lacazette is no longer a “hot” goalscoring striker and anyone watching yesterday’s game will recognise this.
Arsenal are a “crossing” team and for that reason alone we need a clinical finisher. Yesterday
Lacazette was seldom in the right position to score when the ball was crossed.
Both Nketiah and Balogun are clearly not in the long term plans of Arteta and therefore a
priority of the club this summer should be to recruit a specialist CF.
A paean of praise f or the performance. Deserved absolutely.
As for Arteta, he impresses more game by game. We are SO lucky to have him as coach/manager. Love the guy.
Btw , Arteta wearing Arsenal issue hoodie on the touch line …..must’ve been a laundry day.
‘You don’t have to look any further than the last 15 minutes to see what can happen at our back if pressure is applied. Even players like Partey lose possession in dangerous position when pressed. The fact Jose opted to sit off our back line was one of the keys to our performance.’ Hi Tom, it was the last last 15 mins of the game, they had nothing to lose and they gambled with everything they had to try and rescue a point. Every team has a spell in a game and their dangerous period came when they had 10… Read more »
“Tierney as well. The two of them took that RB way beyond the point of ‘it’s just a game’ and into the ‘you’re making me doubt why I play this game’ territory“ I never rated Doherty quite as high as some of the other posters here from his wolves days but he was more than a decent player for them. Under Mourinho’s —we score one goal and defend the lead the rest of the way —he’s been really bad for them. Most errors leading to goals conceded for Tottenham this season. Tottenham’s RB position has been an issue for them… Read more »
Good footballers make things look easy.
The bonus of adding goals in the mix is something I thought on his record he would struggle with but he is more advanced now and the goals will come.
Odegaards is here and I hope for the long term.
a real footballer and one we have been lacking.
Cazorla
No doubt every team gets at least a fraction of 90 minutes when they can become dominant in any game no matter the circumstances.
But if you think Arsenal can dominate Spurs for 75 minutes without their help then I disagree.
Don’t have to look any further than the Burnley and Olympiacos hard press to see how fragile we can be under high press.
The fact Jose chose not to do that at all was a huge plus for us.
Shocking game plan on his part against the side he said were inferior to his.
If Aubameyang skipped the post game warm down, then he should be stripped of the captaincy, we gave him that giant contract as captain, so he would lead by example
Petulance breeds petulance
Aubameyang is supposed to be leading by example, not acting like a disobedient child with no discipline, no respect for timekeeping, then driving off when he should be warming down with the other substitutes
If he becomes a negative influence around the rest of the players, then just send him to train on his own, away from the rest of the group
I spoke on my view of Arteta publicly yesterday revealing Auba was disciplined but outside of that I have nothing to fault. Great win and its ALWAYS lovely to beat Spurs.
For what it’s worth, Auba did post a congratulatory post on his IG for the team. I think we can safely draw the line under this and move on, unless we have reason otherwise – and seemingly – we don’t.
The godfather
Nothing wrong with Arteta explaining his decision, getting your story out first is smart politics, because it puts your opponent on the back foot
If Aubameyang can’t get out of bed on time for £300,000 p/w, and then can’t be bothered to warm down with the other substitutes
Then he can’t cry about the guy who’s paid to manage him, explaining his decision on why our captain isn’t starting
Brilliant result, really happy with the team, manager and obviously the result. Everyone contributed and we were great to watch… not words we’ve said enough this season…or for a few years actually…
Now please please please can there be some consistency and a lot less of ‘helping hand’ from the overly generous Xhaka/Luiz/Ceballos/Leno combo
Here’s another thing, no doubt Jose set his team up for Auba leading the line for Arsenal.
Arteta changed that last minute and Jose failed to react.
Auba offers an outlet over the top when we get pressed deep, that Laca just doesn’t.
Parking the bus is more effective against Auba.
Jose got out coached, and his world class finishers failed to bail his ass out this time.
Godfather/Joe –
“To go to the media and betray your captain over an internal matter like this is unforgivable.”
Fake news.
Arteta post-match re:Auba:
“He is an incredible guy. He’s probably one of the most important players in the team, he’s our captain. These things happen, we move forward. Let’s enjoy the victory tonight and dedicate it to our fans of course. [after the journo keeps probing him for details] I will never tell you what happens in that dressing room.”
Wrong time to get hysterical after a NLD win, imo.
7 points off 5th, 30 points to play for…I’m saying it softly…Europa?
Good morning Gooners
Great post Pedro and agree with it all. The future is bright and red.
I walk past two Spurs fans in the office every morning. It was a pleasure today! I almost slipped on the puddles of salty tears they had left on the floor!
Hearing Jenas, Redknapp et al crying about the ‘injustice of it all’. Wonderful!
Arteta giving auba the ozil treatment. Next should be willian, then we can have 2 of our highest earners wanting out. Never should have handed both those players contracts but back then auba was a top scorer and Willian looked like a good short term fix after the fulham game so we can’t everything right. Odegarrd, if the money is right, should be bought in, so should another CM next to partey (poor lad is tired after 60mins cause he has to play the role of 3 midfielders). Great win against spuds but begs the question why are we not… Read more »
It still seems incredible that Arteta started the season without any attacking midfielders, those first 15 league games before ESR returned were just terrible. Imagine if we’d beaten Burnley, Wolves, Southampton, plus at the worst drawing with Leicester and Villa, all home games, that’s an extra 10 points at least! Arteta better not ever screw up like that again.
7 points off 5th, 30 points to play for…I’m saying it softly…Europa?
How about CL via EL….I’m saying it softly.
If Tottenham are the bookies favorites than why not?…………….softly of course.
Odegaard is a player who needs runners and good movement around him to be effective. I would liken his game to Ozil( which is a good thing) but with a better work rate and a much better awareness of his defensive duties… The reason i liken him to Ozil is that his priority is to maintain possession which is not always easy in the final 3rd. Like Ozil , he will rarely attempt a pass that isn’t on and is happy to give the simple ball to bring his team mates into the game. He has patience and intelligence in… Read more »
The biggest takeaway for me in this match was that we can deal with teams parking the bus. All those teams that thought they could just let us have the ball will be worried to do that.
Ødegaard is easily twice the player Ozil is right now and then some. The latter can’t even cut it in the Turkish league. What a bum.
Emiratesstroller
“Lacazette. His function in the team is to score goals”
Tat’s just on of his functions. Watch Harry Kane on a good day, if he’s not scoring his provide assists, defending from the front, dropping deep to get the ball for Son to collect and score etc.
Pedro, great post and agree with sentiment that any one complaining re Arteta about yesterday’s game can do one
The Godfather
Don Corleone was a stickler for obedience and punishment for breaking the rules
Time for a name-change?
Good post Pedro, with you on about 90% of the content today.
Beating the spuds certainly makes it a more manageable Monday.
Starting to look like 2 steps forward 1 back, rather than 1 step forward and 2 back.
If Sp*rs had come onto us earlier in the game I think we would have scored 3 or 4. We are certainly starting to purr now. Lots of work to do still though.
ESR has gotten his first England call-up
He’s moving up in the world.
I got that wrong. It was the u-21s that called up ESR.
Nice and easy to weed out the trolls today.
Imagine being bitter after a win in the NLD, truly pathetic
One word to describe Kieran Tierney: RELENTLESS
He just goes and goes and goes and doesn’t give them a minute’s peace. If his cross in is bad, he’ll make up for it with the next one.
Love him.
Several regular posters missing this morning too…
Oi oi Pedro! One or two dissenters have started a bit of shit stirring re s” special sauce “.What did u say in your piece?
Brilliant post Pedro, agree with every word of it
Uwot,
If you are dissenting today, 1) you are not a fan 2) you are insecure the wheels are falling off the botched agenda
Arsenal just dominated Spurs in an NLD, came from a goal down, and limited them to 3 shots on target with 6 attempts.
All after going to Greece on Thursday.
Magnificent stuff.
Great Post Pedro, what an upper this result is in these strange times, fair play to the players and Arteta.
Where’s Marc? no doubt penning some diatribe, come on Marc let’s be havin you
COYG
KT is literally a breath of fresh air, I have a bias to Pepe but hes up there in terms of my favourites
If I had one signing to make this summer I’d make it Ødegaard . So silky and hammer of a shot , passes so well. I really think we should be giving Nketiah a chance upfront with Saka ESR Ødegaard behind him . Just once .
Great post Pedro.
Agree with what you’re saying. I was first a little sceptical with Arteta but agree he is the best man for the job. The thing is, the Kroenkes HAVE to back him with money too.
It seemed like Laca had his own music when he scored. Forgive my average modern hip hop knowledge but sounded like Travis Scott.
Does each Arsenal player have their own music selection play if they score?
What music would you have?
I’d have ‘Mumma said knock you out’ by LL Cool J.
DivineSherlock
We’ve seen enough of Nketiah to know he isn’t good enough to take us forward.
Martinelli/Bologun/Moller deserve their chance at CF.
Then came “ I ❤️ him “ Williams and the last 15 minutes of the game against Spodicks down to 10 men became nerve wreaking.
Incidentally by that time Saka and ESR were out leaving only Tierney among those who don’t play back – side unimaginative Arteta tactics, because they know that Arteta knows that they know that Arsenal will be bottom heap without these players and their mojo. Odegard is looking at bit sauced up with uncharacteristic back passing at moments. But guy is a prospect.
@Jamie
First of all you’re delusional and a liar,and I don’t give a Shyt
about your opinion, so ignore mine.
What a Slurper
“Ødegaard is easily twice the player Ozil is right now and then some. The latter can’t even cut it in the Turkish league. What a bum.” Typical snide remark from Jamie ..wouldn’t expect anything more. “Right now” , Ozil is out injured. Anyone with a football brain can see that on the ball they have a very similar game , off the ball not so similar. If Odegaard ever makes it to peak Ozil standard, he will have a very successful career. At the moment, Odegaard is being sent out on loan every other season . To put it in… Read more »
Great game from the boys and really really needed by Arteta and by me he as he now has a bit of faith , a bit of time and a bit of respect .The two spurs fans in my ward are still breathing and haven’t gone near the window for 24 hours as they agreed with me .I said spurs were shit and they agreed .They seem a little concerned by me smiling at them though he he. Anyway Arteta has to follow up with 3 more wins . I hope to god he starts doing some generational coaching as… Read more »
Is there anyone one here who isn’t buzzed about the Win even though we had to hang on to the prayer Beads for the last 15 mins despite being a man up and totally dominating the game? Point is we should look at things in total and see where we can do better. Clearly Arteta’s biggest weakness is in game and man management, and pointing out that telling the media before the game that the team captain was not starting due to disciplinary reasons is terrible man management … just don’t bring it up and move on. But the Animal… Read more »
Great win.
But we cannot drop silly points against ‘lesser teams’ if we want to play for prizes.
The standard has to be higher.
For discussion: Which is least painful?
a) Conceding to a “Leno pass it out from the back special”
b) Conceding to a nicely taken goal by a complete s***houser.
North London is Red.
That is all.
Did anyone see the post-match analysis with Wrighty and Owen and co on the penalty? Thought it was fairly ridiculous how stonewall they all were that it wasn’t a penalty. Sure, Laca tried to shoot and missed, but when he was wiped out the ball was slowly rolling towards the byline, still very much in play. He could’ve kept moving and picked it up again to recycle the chance. If he’d just touched the ball away from the defender and then gotten taken out like that, nobody would doubt it’s 100% a penalty, regardless of how realistic it is that… Read more »
Samir
Nketiah was playing without the creative player behind him , It think if you give him that role of Lacazette , He would do well . Plus he also tireless in pressing from the front.
It’s a definite penalty. Litmus test – You know if Luiz had taken a swing like that, that it would be given against us 100% and you wouldn’t be surprised. You’d be on here bashing the curly haired one.
Pierre
Ozil joined Madrid at the age of 22 . Özil wasnt a regular for Madrid at 22. To put it into perspective , Ødegaard joined Madrid at the age lf 15 . World class talent if there ever was one.
Holy Fudge
Laca on the pen: “ We were lucky to get the penalty, I think, but of course I’m happy.”
Explained on 365 football what Tom was saying “ 12. And there is no more damning indictment of just how badly Mourinho got it wrong than those final 15 minutes. Despite being down to 10 men, Spurs – fresh out of alternatives by this point, of course – finally went at that fragile Arsenal defence. They decided that playing in a way that allowed the chance for Harry Kane to touch the ball might be a good idea. Suddenly Arsenal’s defence had at least 14 obvious vulnerabilities. Sure enough, Arsenal, having cruised through 75 minutes scarcely able to believe their… Read more »
Pierre
Ozil signed for Real Madrid 2 months shy of his 22nd birthday, so he was a Real Madrid regular for 2 months before he turned 22, not a couple of years
And was a player in steady decline from the second half of the 2015/16 season, aged just 27, player mature and peak at different ages, he lost the hunger, and talent alone is never enough
We’ve been rubbish at judging the progression and regression of players for a long time
To think we offered Sanchez + Ozil two mega deals, and we never learned our lesson with Willian….
“If you feel aggrieved after a NLD win, let me be clear, f*ck off with your ‘views,’ no one cares what you have to say.”
Pedro’s Non-Negotiables!
In all honesty, you’ve been somewhat insufferable with your attitude Pedro. I get it that its not pleasant to have to absorb some of the criticism, but equally your attitude through it all invites it.
Arsenal won yesterday, not Mikel Arteta.
Pierre, give it a rest with your Ozil comparisons. Ode plays more like KDB did at his age in Bremen (on loan) than like your hero Ozil because he isn’t afraid to shoot or defend. You’re as boring as Godfather Joe is about his secret love for Emery.
Hi Tom we’ll just disagree on their approach. I just think it was more a case they couldn’t get out of their half for any sustained time to have a meaningful period of attack.
I’ll say again we did an absolute job on them.
Peak Ozil – truly a fleeting proposition if ever there was one for the bug-eyed drone.
I’ve been defending Leno on here against some of the Emi would’ve saved this / would’ve come for that over the top comments but he almost did cost us the game yesterday.
For the Kane’s disallowed goal his positioning at the near post was suspect, and his gambling/cheating towards the near post again at the Kane free kick would’ve been costly if not for Gabriel.
Leno owes him a dinner at Willian’s restaurant.
Tom Sure, he feels that way because he knows he tried to get his shot away and missed the ball. That’s not my point though. My point is that what he actually ended up doing, which we’ve seen thousands of times over the years, and it always results in a penalty, is nudge the ball away from the defender, towards the byline, right before the challenge comes in. Whether or not that’s what he was trying to do doesn’t really matter, it’s what he did, and nobody is arguing that there was no contact from the challenge or that he… Read more »
Arsenal won yesterday, not Mikel Arteta.
Sentence of the day.
Let’s all be happy that Odengaard is starting to blossom no need to get in obsessive comparisons.
What benefit will come out it?
Need to beat the hammers now.