If you came here expecting TRUST THE PROCESS propaganda, you’d be absolutely correct.
The Mikel Arteta fan club just had its servers crash after a masterclass under pressure.
We downed Racist FC. No, we smashed them. It was an absolutely brutal takedown. Majestic under any circumstances, more so because of the context of the scuzzy team, and the moment in our season that felt do or die.
The big worry is we’d see a return of players we’ve not been happy with.
Auba didn’t start. Was he the leaker? Did we have another Ozil situation brewing? Was this because of the authoritarian management of a novice manager reported in the French press?
No. Turns out flu was actually malaria. Yikes. That’s not good. If I remember correctly, Kolo Toure took quite a while to fully recover from the disease way back when. Wishing Auba all the best though. Sounds like he was doing captain duties from his sick bed, that was great to hear.
The ‘you are a terrible person for having an opinion’ police dishing out ethics lessons on Twitter need to pipe down. The club told us he had flu. He’s been playing poorly all season. He’s had discipline issues. If you’re above making a comment on that, fine, but please, don’t lecture people for working with the information they had.
Back to the game.
Things blew up pretty quick after 10 minutes. ESR tapped in the second ball after Saka hit the post, VAR cancelled it out, you immediately wondered if that was going to be our night.
It was not. No one felt sorry of themselves. We powered on, sticking to the plan, creating chances, and most importantly this time… taking them.
Nico scored a superb goal, breaking the offside trap by inches, then holding off shooting until 3 players had dropped to the floor before rifling into the next.
Bukayo Saka had another crack cutting in from the right, instead of gong for the far post, he caught the keeper off guard with a stunning low near post shot. Beautiful angles.
Lacazette made amends for his sins last week. He buried a penalty with his usual coolness. His second goal was outrageous footwork that blinded 2 defenders, his drag back perfectly executed in tandem with a clean striker.
Bob Holding and Pablo Mari kept things incredibly tidy for the game.
Thomas Partey pulled midfield strings again whilst also offering up a masterclass in shielding our backline.
Granit Xhaka, left back to the gods, dropped another good game.
We qualified. But in style. Performances matter, that was a performance.
So what do we have to say about that?
Playing your best players is usually the best option. Arteta didn’t start Martinelli, but I don’t think you could argue with anyone he had in the starting 11. Smith Rowe was absolutely explosive, he is the absolute real deal and I can’t believe we’ve landed him at the same time as Saka. His running is exceptional, his off-ball movement is so modern and difficult to track, he’s decisive and so alert. This kid will be a 15 goal a season player when it all clicks for him. You also couldn’t argue the inclusion of Pepe. He was brilliant again. He’s confident, increasingly decisive in big moments, and he finally looks like he’s enjoying himself. His goal was a thing of beauty, shades of Kanu, exactly what we were hoping we bought.
It’s becoming hard to deny that Lacazette is the better forward for this system. Auba is great if you want to build your game around feeding him chances. For me, Lacazette connecting 3-4 players with his quick passing and deft movement feels really promising. Our forward line in the last 2 games has looked devastating and incredibly dynamic. Now everyone is finding the Midas touch, it’d be tough to break the flow up. Interesting that Eddie is picking up minutes now, clearly to get him into shape with Auba out for a while. Shame it’s not Balogun, sounds like he’s going to leave Arsenal this summer, what a shame. Final point on our attack, we’re doing this without Tierney, Auba, or Odegaard.
Defensively, we were very strong again. Pablo Mari and Rob Holding dropped clean sheet number two. Do I like that? Yes I do. Can we move away from the idea David Luiz needs to be the future of our central defence? Isn’t it time to move on from a once elite player that will never give you reliability? Bring Saliba into the fold next season and age down our backline. It’s time.
Let’s also talk about Arteta. He had not showered himself in glory over the last month. He invited the doubters back in with familiar mistakes. It looked like the team was floating away from him. Made worse by the leaks. But here we are again, watching him do the business in a competition he needs to win. His tactics were spot on in both legs, the personnel not so much. Last night, we banged, every player worked for that win, there were no passengers. He needs to remember this. When his back is against the wall, who does he turn to? The hungry players that want it. I love that the players are reacting well to his systems and that his systems are starting to work better for the players. Arsenal, collectively, are becoming a more intelligent team. We just need to do it on a run of games. Pockets of form do not qualify you for the Champions League.
It’s also worth talking about the leaks. Someone went to L’quipe and complained about the same things that went into The Sun before the Sheffield United game. Authoritarian management, unhappy senior players, and Thomas Partey not being played correctly. 2 games, 2 leaks, 2 wins. The leaks aren’t coming from players we should care about. There’s no manager coming into to work with this lot that wouldn’t make the older player change their games. As for authoritarian, again, what is the counterpoint? Build out a creche like Wenger did? Cave to senior demands like Unai Emery? This phase of Arsenal cannot be a negotiation with players that aren’t doing it.
The path we’re on is the right one if Arteta learns his lessons, fast. Stick with the players that want to be at the new Arsenal. Give chances to young players with high ceilings. Develop senior players who want to learn. Keep improving how we do things week in, week out.
The next round of the Europa is against Unai Emery. We must destroy Villareal. There’s no other outcome that is acceptable. A see a lot of people crying about how classy he was. It needs to stop, this is a guy brought in by a super agent, late to the process, who landed the job without speaking English. He literally did a deal with the devil, and when Raul let him go kicking and screaming, a skint Arsenal paid him out in a lump sum instead of putting him on gardening leave like every other club would have.
This cut back merchant needs to feel the full force of the new Arsenal. Arteta needs to make a statement in both legs. We need make sure we see a bang-bang performance because I honestly cannot deal with the Emery fan club any longer. The weirdest fetish on the internet.
A final against Manchester United will be very tough, but in a one-off, you’d have to fancy our chances.
But first… we need to exact a lesson on Villareal. Last time we were in a semi against them we made a Champions League final. Time for us to make another European Cup Final and actually win one this time.
Onwards. Podcast on Sunday. See you in the comments. #ArtetaFanClub
We played less than 3 days ago away what do we expect leggy but not a loss at least
A team looking to play in the Champions League cannot even win against a team primed for relegation that too at HOME
Arteta doesn’t deserve a draw. Fraud manager.
Leno outttt, Ryan innn
The points mean little to us at this stage but it’s nice to see that little knitwear cunt Scott Parker go down again.
Arteta is a generational curse
Shows us all that without Saka and ESR
ARTETA IS SHIT.
Fulham did not deserve anything from that game. Shame, would rather see them in the Prem than Burnley or Newcastle. The rules denied us a walkover.
When a draw against a shitbag club like Fulham feels like a win. What the fuck have we become? Arteta is a clown.
Cue Arteta blaming the draw on the players yet again.
Never his fault. Ever.
So many questions about poor players
Biggest problems for me are Elneny Ceballos and Bellerin
Despite that goal have no idea why is being favours over Balogun unless it’s just to get his value up for sale
“Our best 11 can beat anyone”……..Lordy, someone must be fasting. Try beating Burnley at home first. Total waste of a season.
Mr Serge
Against. Fulham . And in spite of playing 3 days back .
Result is an indictment.
The Sauce was actually some stirred up shit
Wiglaf
“Pierre you old sage you
Hahahahahaha
They are gonna hate this”
Exactly
Eddie doing what he does best …
I’ve no idea why Saka is offside for the first goal but holding is not for the final one
but I guess when you make shit up as you go along it’s all good
Love the look of Parker, compared to 10 minutes ago
The outcome was a tactical miscalculation.
Who would want Elneny and Ceballos playing in those positions in MF?? Midfield was a disconnect.
Hardly supplies to Esr, Saka, laca.
But fought to the end and savage a bit of pride I suppose
*sigh* I don”t even know why I expect anything different then games like this… I know the Prem.. is dead for us… but … can we please not just play embarrassingly.. to bad teams.
Anyhow… credit for the fightback at the end to not make it a total disaster,.
Arsenal xG 2.93
Fulham xG 0.87
Just one of those days
Why don’t I give a damn?
Because our lead position is crystallized
Europa league is our only way out
I’m more concerned about Laca’s injury
Hope it’s just a minor strain, not a grade 3 and he’s ready in about two weeks
32 games gone and we have more points than goals scored.
We’ve scored just 44 goals this season.
Wiglaf
No one warned us of hiring a manager who has never managed a football club
Fucking celebrating a draw, they should be ashamed of that pile of shit. Mid table mentality
Very poor result.
Ah well it’s all about Unai Bummery now isn’t it.
If Teets goes out to Bummery in Europa and ends up finishing in 11th place in the EPL Pedro is going to have no option but to dump Teets.
Players that should NEVER wear RED again
Ceballos
El Neny
Bellerin
Players that should get MORE minutes
Balogun
Azeez
Martinelli
Why is everyone having a go at VAR today?? All the decisions were correct. It was hard to watch, but it’s true. Our disallowed goal *was* offside, even if only by a few mm (that’s the rule, people! Don’t blame VAR). Their pen was a 50/50 really but there was no clear error by the ref so a pen is fair enough (and their player was not offside, as clearly shown by the lines).
Stop being angry at VAR and be angry at how shit we were today
Results like that are probably why Fulham will be relegated.
Results like that are probably why Arteta keeps his job into next season.
Eddie the saviour
I actually miss Emery lol
The yo-yo that is Arsenal.
VAR has killed the game, it’s a different event with it in play and how implemented. A lesser sport.
Draw does zero for this side at this point.
Martinellj had a very good game
He looked likely all day
Mr Serge
Very leggy performance after our heroics on Thursday night”
Yes, I wonder where we would be in the league if we didn’t have Europa League? We all know that the squad isn’t good enough to rotate and even Man City struggled yesterday resting their first 11 & look at what they have!! The problem is, if we are in Europe next season we will need to improve the squad by quite some margin because we need better additions & have done for a number of years. We need to use the transfer window wisely.
Losing laca is bad. Cant put back hammy in 2 weeks. Hopefully before the final hahaha…
China
What’s not to understand. Saka was offside. We could all see it. It was very tight, but he was offside. Holding wasn’t interfering with play, he wasn’t in the keeper’s eyeline and so him being in an offside position was irrelevant and the goal correctly stood.
Didn’t the Fulham penalty come from a foul by Martinelli which wasnt even a foul?
The Fulham RB slipped and ref gave it a foul against Martinelli.
This is why Eddie will never be a successful player. Just see his reaction. Instead of running to get the ball back for the kickoff he was doing his trademark phonecall celebration. Just shows where his priorities lie.
We are still only 4 points off possible EL place assuming Chelsea win FA Cup and top 7 is enough
If we weren’t going to win, we should have let Fulham the 3 points. Total embarrassment.
Can someone please tell me why a team that cannot even beat FULHAM at home is going to suddenly win the EUROPA LEAGUE?
Farcical.
Elneny is a championship level player who is living the high life at our club’s expense.
DM Saka was offside depending on which frame you determine there ball to have been played. Not conclusive at all. It was a judgment call
Must be the 4th time this season that we’ve had an opportunity to close the gap on Spurs and we’ve fucked it up.
azedApril 18, 2021 15:31:48
32 games gone and we have more points than goals scored.We’ve scored just 44 goals this season.
That’s another Arteta record to be proud of…surely
What did Arteta do wrong today?
Cmon, he had to rotate, didn’t he?
Let’s get off our perch and leave the assumed positions
Laca’s injury is the one we shouldn’t all be worrying about
Could it be a very bad case of cramp?
Laca’s pain tolerance is notoriously very low.
Really disappointed with that result. A chance to narrow the gap with Spurs.
At least the Italian F1 GP is a bit more exciting, being a wet race earlier on
Martinelli was our only bright attacking for the first 85 minute.
Esr wad surprisingly quiet. Tho that Ozil esque pass to Laca was filthy.
Saka in the last 10 minutes turned into Messi.
@Wiglaf
Spot on in you’re assessment of Arteta . Piss poor manager worst we’ve had in 30 plus years
China1
You’re looking at the wrong frame
Offside is from the moment the ball leaves the dot of the passing player not when ball is in full flight.
There was a more convincing offside when that pass was played.
I’m good with it so long as the use the same method loft for ALL clubs
Obviously it’s time for Eddie to be given a run up top
To find space in a packed penalty area as Eddie does is an art ..he continually caused the Fulham back line problems and had a couple of half chances prior to his goal .
It’s time for Eddie to make his mark and shut up all the doubters…
NorthbankerApril 18, 2021 15:13:46
No first touch from Nketiah- he really is absolutely useless
Oh great sage, keep thy wisdom coming
Sal “VAR has killed the game, it’s a different event with it in play and how implemented. A lesser sport.” Totally agrree, been saying it all season. Decisions should be made by the on field ref, not some bloke in Stockley. The replays showed the penalty was a dive & there was no contact, so why not send the referee to review it? If it’s true that Stockley knew there was no contact but decided it wasn’t a clear & obvious mistake, what the hell is going on? Claiming it’s not about getting correct decisions, doesn’t make sense. I’m done… Read more »
Pierre
Really hoping that’s sarcasm…
As for offside, unless the foot of a player is in offside position it shouldn’t be an offside. I don’t understand why the rules are.so complicated.
You have to agree with Roy Keane on that performance, absolutely shocking again.
Wiglaf
Be careful what you say about Arteta. Pedro would call you an Emerista and probably ban you.
I celebrated that equalizer like it was a last minute winner against United, I feel guilty and ashamed
The point is that we need to start searching for an elite and experienced coach. Arteta is not the one to take us to our rightful position in the premiership.
The more we cling to him, the more the club deteriorates.
The earlier he is gotten rid of the better.
What exactly is Scott Parker unhappy about? That VAR didn’t give him a third fucking dreadful decision in a row, but one that would this time be against all known rules of the game? Diddums, you ex-United cunt
CT: Didn’t the Fulham penalty come from a foul by Martinelli which wasnt even a foul
Nope, wrong Gabi. It was Gabrielle not Martinelli.
Wiglaf
“Martinelli misses 3 very good chances”
He did ok though, nothing wrong on missing a few guilt edge chances as long as he keeps getting in there …a bit like Eddie really, except Eddie was in the right place at the right time….you won’t catch Eddie standing in an offside position in and around the box.
He has an in built intuition of where to be and the timing of his movement should never be questioned.
Wiglaf I dont think Arteta is to blame today. We had to rotate after playing Partey so much in the last few weeks. Chambers/Cedric should have started over Bellerin. I reckon Arteta put Bellerin on to boos his value maybe as he is on the market. The drop off in quality from Partey to Elneny is ridiculous. Bellerin also was horrendous. Even worse than his usual average self. + Esr and Saka also had relatively quiet days which is expected of young players. That said we still created enough chances to win the game. + Those Eddie chances you mention… Read more »
andy
I an talking about the foul upfield. Martinelli pressured the Fulham RB and he slipped and fell down. The ref gave a foul against Martinelli.
I think the penalty resulted from that play.
Leeds
“Can someone please tell me why a team that cannot even beat FULHAM at home is going to suddenly win the EUROPA LEAGUE?”
Yes.
1. It will be a full strength first 11.
2. It will not be a rotated team
3. The players won’t have had just 2 days recovery after an overseas trip.
Man City fans are complaining about Pep rotating but he made the same point, that it’s about recovery & injury prevention. He has a much better squad that Arsenal too. We may have lost Lacazette.
We played terrible today, our CM is bang average and we created very little clear cut chances…Shit result against Fulham but don’t think it’s Artetas fault we had a good enough team out there to win, players need to be held accountable for there performances.
Lucky for Ryan with that flick on to save all embarrassment
CT: “I dont think Arteta is to blame today.”
Just as predictable as Mr. Sauce.
Why were they Celebrating like they won. Doing stupid fifa celebrations get the flipping ball back to center circle and restart. Get the winner. There was time! Trust the process? Looks like the process is just being happy to not lose rather than try to win and be successful smh. Embarrassing
Omozuafo Frank
Give us a name…
I’ll be on the phone to Edu immediately.
Raptora
We had an xG of 3 today.
Created 2 or 3 very good chances.
Fulham’s only shot on target was their goal so we also defended well I reckon.
When will the idiot that is Arteta stop thinking he is Guardiola and can rotate as many players as he likes. STICK WITH A WINNING TEAM; FFS!!!!!
Captain Tierney
“Dont think Arteta is to blame today. We had to rotate after playing Partey so much in the last few weeks.”
Absolutely. The squad always suffers when we rotate we lack the in depth quality for the Europa & PL. We had two days rest, Fulham had an entire week, it’s relevant however inconvenient the truth is. We need to improve the squad, we all know that. So does Arteta & Edu.
Martinelli showed today why he will be great player and also why Arteta dosent trust him fully.
He has to improve his awareness of what’s around him
Reportedly a new European Super league is going to be announced today.
Consists of the Prem big 6, Spain big 3 and Juve, Inter and AC.
Football’s never gonna be the same again
The reality is that under Arteta we are probably going to be just a cup side.
I really think Arteta lacks in the intricacies needed over a whole EPL season.
And that ultimately means no Arteta for the long run. Whether that be end of this season, christmas time next season or the following season.
“STICK WITH A WINNING TEAM; FFS!!!!!”
Then you would not have any fit players!
Arteta might turn out to be the world’s greatest manager ever, but I don’t think he’s the right manager for us.
After 18 months in charge, he looks like a cheque book manager that needs all his 11 players to be of the right kind. Just one player missing destroys his own plans.
Hopefully Lacazette recovers quickly… And Auba too.
We can’t face Villarreal with Nketiah leading the line
Sell ESR and Saka to Barcelona for £170 million
contrast arteta to Tuchel
arsenal decision making
Fire
“He (Martinelli)has to improve his awareness of what’s around him”
Are you suggesting that he should lift his head a little?
One thing we have to change at the club asap is the player’s mentality.
We can’t be celebrating a stoppage time equaliser against 19th placed at HOME. Get the ball back and try to score another goal ffs
so the title of Pedro’s next piece should be
‘Arsenal Whimper’
Sorry but you’ll win nothing with a CM of Ceballos and Elneny, you couldn’t make one decent player out of all of their parts!!
What we need to ask is what does Arteta significantly show in this management of this Arsenal side that we don’t see from the majority of any other EPL managers. What sets him apart potentially.
If you can’t answer anything then it’s hard to see Arteta becoming a “great” manager of Arsenal.
Fire
“Hopefully Lacazette recovers quickly… And Auba too.
We can’t face Villarreal with Nketiah leading the line”
Lacazette has been a key part in that role, losing his would be a disaster. Let’s hope it’s not a hamstring. This is exactly why you have to rotate players.
Pierre
Exactly… All top players have an idea of what they want to do with the ball before they receive it. Martinelli just wants to run all day.
Peak Wenger would have loved him though… Is Arteta the man to develop him? Only time will tell
This club is driving me mad. How can you drop such a poor performance after that game in Prague? We did have chances, but it was just very poor play from the team. Slow ponderous again, not much cutting edge. This is very very worrying for the future.
So what’s the post Christmas table look like?
Afc forever, Captain Tierney- You two sound like right proper suckers. Maybe you can tell
Partey has been injured for the better part of the season and he’s gradually getting his groove back. He needs game time especially as he’s more or less the only DM we have.
Pepe has been in and out of the team and he needs game time. Arteta spoke all week about his adaptation time being over.
Arteta spoke during the week how Holding-Mari seems our best central defensive pair and they need to play more together..
Guess what the dolomite does? He benched the 3 above, practically debited us of anything resembling a spine.
Laca’s hammy will do him for he rest of season, big miss in our current ‘best XI’
I said yesterday that the one player who should be rested is the striker ( Lacazette) as it can be a thankless task(and hard work) playing as a loan striker.. I said Balogun or Eddie should have started , Lacazette should have been rested, and now he’s probably out for the semi final . Not to worry as we have 2 quality young strikers who will be desperate to make their mark ..the injury could well turn out to be a blessing in disguise as Eddie and Balogun can play alternate weeks or Martinelli can be given a run up… Read more »
And that is why we will never go anywhere with Mikel Arteta as manager, tactically inept and don’t think there’s ever been a manager who’s rotated his squad so much its embarassing
Wiglaf We can’t bench Lacazette, as he is the only striker who best suits the system. Maybe Mari should have started over Gabriel and Partey over Elneny. But these 2 have faced consistent injury problems at Arsenal and maybe Arteta doesn’t want to lose them before Villarreal. One thing I would have changed in the starting lineup was Cedric over Bellerin. And maybe Pepe over Martinelli. But the gameplan was good if not very good. Remove the Fulham penalty and their xg would be 0.13. Martinelli converts even 1 of his 2 early chances and its a completely different game.… Read more »
He’ll probably drop Martinelli now for his favourite Willian next game lol
Wiglaf After the game you can say what you would have done but it’s just chat. You or my team selection might have lost the game. Ultimately, the players selected were good enough to win that game. The manager doesn’t operate VAR or take shots, nor does he have the benefit of hindsight. The medical/fitness team are responsible for the players recovery & will play a role in who is deemed ready to start. I suspect it was hoped Partey wouldn’t get any minutes but need overruled that. Losing Lacazette now would not be good. I certainly would have kept… Read more »
Pathetic stuff. Watching Elneny and Ceballos stink the place up reminded me of what it felt watching Chamakh and Squilaci.
Martinelli at least showed some signs of what we can expect if he ever gets a run of games and is allowed to find his flow. He had enough opportunities to score today. But the kid’s been in the gulag, so we should cut him some slack.
AFC
“Lacazette has been a key part in that role, losing his would be a disaster.”
Not a disaster by any means ..who’s to say that if he had stayed on today he would have been in space to score the equaliser.
Show some faith in our kids, they are better than you think, losing Lacazette could well prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Posters on this site give me jokes, slagging off progressive talented players like Martinelli, Saka Pepe and giving freedom passes to duds and stinkers like Nketiah, Ceballos, Bellerin and El Neny
did we play well, missed the game
We didn’t even get another post before TRUST THE PROCESS got shat on.
I made a prediction somewhere a couple months back that we’d end up on 55 points. Looking pretty accurate to me. Every step forward is matched with a step back.
We don’t know what happens behind the scenes regarding player training…
The only mistake any manager can make is playing William for any reason.
That said he will score the goal that wins us the Europa league.
I liked Martinelli’s performance today, just needed a little bit of luck and he would have been on the scoresheet
Bellerin , Ceballos and Elneny should not be playing for the club next season, they’ve proven it over the course of this season (and others). There’s no need to look at them again, you’re not going to ‘raise their profile or worth’ of sub-standard players making a hash of it yet again. If you’re a forward looking manager you give a chance to players who MAY be good enough, like Azeez or put Cedric at LB and have Xhaka play in the centre.
If you keep playing chumps…….well it makes you a chump as well!!