Arsenal escaped Brighton with a point. I’m not sure if I’d call it a lucky point, Brighton managed 2 shots on target all game, but I would call it undeserved because Arsenal really weren’t at the races. The more experienced Arsenal fan was probably expecting a bit of hangover after the Spurs game. The hype was unreal and the setting for the next game was small, windy, and rainy. Doesn’t detract from the reality: It wasn’t the standard we expected.
There were two very clear problems.
We lacked courage
Granit Xhaka was absent and we missed him. That might hurt some people, but it’s true. The Swiss will drive you crazy with some of the dumb things he’ll bring to the table, but one thing you can never accuse him of is hiding. I thought Sambi and Thomas Partey hid today. Brighton gambled on a very high press. It worked, because our midfield couldn’t handle it. Brighton knew Ramsdale’s long balls to Auba were low risk because Auba isn’t big enough to battle lumbering centre-backs. So they went man to man and boxed us in.
Last week, Spurs tried that in the opening 20, but we had answers. There was always someone on call to receive the ball from the back 5. Xhaka started the move for a goal because we confidently played out the back. This week, we didn’t have that. Partey and Sambi were rattled and they hid. If no one shows, the keeper will go long. When your striker is Auba, you have to be accurate and in to feet. Ramsdale admitted after his kicking was poor in that regard.
The heavy press is about psychology. The best example of this was Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. They pressed us hard, we beat the tactic 3 times early on, so they gave up, and we won the game. We didn’t have the cajones to do that against Brighton. The midfield didn’t want it and our striking options had no chance.
That set the tone for the game. The wind and rain made things even tougher, but really, for me, it was all about the midfield.
Awkward Press & Second balls
Our press wasn’t cohesive. Sometimes, Auba just isn’t ready to do what we need of him physically. He didn’t set the tone, nor did Odegaard. We let Brighton move the ball out of the back with ease, and we didn’t press as a unit.
The team also failed miserably with second balls. We were nowhere. They won it every time. That wasn’t the fault of one person, it was the entired team. Saka was nowhere. Smith Rowe wasn’t good enough. Everyone was a bit off their game.
If you let yourself get abused by the press and you don’t fight for second balls, you are going to struggle against Brighton, who are a very good team.
The Positives
There weren’t many, I have to be honest. That was the worst performance of the season for me by quite a margin. There was very little football to write home about, we didn’t create enough chances, and we were lucky not to get rolled.
… but we escaped with a point and probably had the best chances.
We’d have lost that game last October.
Our defence had some shaky moments, but it delivered. Brighton didn’t have many good chances for all of their good posession. Gabriel and Ben White were excellent again. They are starting to build a good partnership.
Kieran Tierney and Tomiyasu had games to forget. Cuccerella continued his good form and tied Tomi in knots. Kieran, one of our best players, dropped a pass completion rate below 60%. Those two are better than that and we know it’ll be a rarity that they do that again this season.
The bright sparks?
This is the youngest team in the Premier League. Glenn Murray said it right.
Glenn Murray speaking some common sense. Some ‘fans’ are looking to bring their own baggage to this young team. This is a game to move on from. pic.twitter.com/4Mx42g2LdW
— Hale End Fan Account (@ddoublepivot) October 2, 2021
We’ll have games like that.
If you don’t want to see Granit in the starting 11, accept that we’ll have bad days. Young players get better. People moaning about this team don’t understand that in football, it takes time for new players to suss each other out. This new iteration of Artetaball is 4 games old.
The subs also made a difference. Pepe sharpened things a little in midfield. Lacazette did a much better job linking play. We had some very good chances, we just didn’t take them today.
AARON WATCH: The keeper had a couple of shaky moments, but he stepped in, and saved us points again. He’s decisive, he’s always communicating, and he’s exactly what we’ve missed character-wise since Jens Lehmann. Another good 90. I wonder if anyone has gone back to the comments on his IG to shame the muppets that abused him?
Before I move on, the fact that Martinelli was trending shows you how meek some of our fans are. The Brazilian has been bang average when he’s been given chances this season. In a game where we lacked control, he wasn’t the answer. Lacazette is far better and he proved that. There is part of the online fan base that is just desperate to make victims of professional athletes and it’s absolutely painful to read. Martinelli will find form, he’ll get his chance, and he’ll be comforted by all the success stories we have at the club.
‘Can we talk about how mean Arteta is to Martinelli’
It’s so embarrassing to read. Athletes don’t want to be perceived as sporting victims. That’s weakness. Pepe proved that last season. ESR did the same. Saka did after his penalty miss. These are strong young men, they don’t want Karen-at-the-school-gate making excuses for them on the internet. They want competition and they don’t need fan handouts from people that don’t understand what it is to operate in a high-performance culture.
Back to the club.
Look at the bigger picture.
You would have taken 10 points from 12 before the last international break.
You’d never have guessed that you’d love Aaron Ramsdale or that he’d keep 3 clean sheets
If I’d told you at the start of the season we’d be 6 points off top and 4 points off top 4 after 6 games, you’d have taken that.
This project isn’t for now. But, if it’s within spitting distance of top 4 come January, it will compete for top 4 this season. Simple as that. Last season, we smashed it after Christmas. That is what will happen this season.
We’re 2 phases into the season.
Phase 1: 0 points (from 9)
Phase 2: 10 points (from 12)
Phase 3: Palace (h), Villa (h), Leicester (a), Watford (h)
10 points from that lot will have us very close to the top 4. Can we do it? That’s a real litmus test for this season. I want to smash Palace. Villa is a weird internet rivalry, so we need to deal with them. Leicester is used against Arsenal, we need to bury Rodgers. Watford is a derby.
We need Arteta to win Phase 3, because Phase 4 is rough and runs for over a month.
Right, that’s all I have. Check out the latest podcast and wish Johnny a happy birthday. ALSO, last week was our best ever for the podcast. Ya’ll the best. Thank you for spending so much time with us. We truly appreciate the love. You are all so awesome.
its awkward isn’t it?? .. its a disappoint, gained to many players hiding or mentally absent,
Eddie would have been a better choice than Auba on the heavy pitch with Laca as support
Good post Pedro. I like the optimism despite the clear fact that the performance was not up to standards we want.
😏
Let me take the coveted 4th place
If Eddie isn’t injured then questions should be asked
Pedro where is my Trophy… 😀😀😀
Top 4
The more I look back on yesterday’s game the more I appreciate a hard won point that could easily have been a defeat.
It smacks of a false sense of fan entitlement to think that Arsenal could possibly go to Brighton with such an inexperienced team that hasn’t yet clicked and win along the lines of the NLD.
A lot of fans are more obsessed with pushing their anti this or that agendas than being able to see things in perspective.
This arsenal team is crying for a Suarez, a Paco Alcacer, an Aguero,, a Marco Reus, a Marco Silva, an Adam Szalai (less 25 pounds) Oh! How badly we need a striker…. How badly we ned a striker who can head in. In spite of having good crossers like Tierney, Arsenal hasn’t headed in a goal for last 48 games. Beat that!!! Last season this donkey Aretta had no idea he didn’t have a heading-in striker and he kept insisting his wing backs to cross high. This year after repeatedly writing by several columnists the only change he has brought… Read more »
Even a Giroud at a cut-price wouldhave been that bad. Huy has a head with which he can write.
Phase 4 is presumably: Liverpool A Newcastle H Man Utd A Everton A Southampton H West Ham H 3 very difficult away games and with the exception of Newcastle which has to be a banker, 2 home games that are a tricky prospect given that Southampton have made life difficult for the bigger teams despite not winning yet and West Ham continue their excellent form. But the next 5 games (including Leeds in the LC) we should be looking for 4 wins with perhaps a draw at Leicester. Villa will be a very interesting game as they are hot at… Read more »
“one thing you can never accuse him [Xhaka] of is hiding” Can’t you? We’ve seen so many games like this before and he usually doesn’t make a difference. How can you watch Xhaka for so many years and come to the conclusion that he would have got us going in this match? “If you don’t want to see Granit in the starting 11, accept that we’ll have bad days” How many bad days have we had with him in the starting eleven? We’ve been here before too many times, he doesn’t prevent these kinds of performances. Except on rare occasions,… Read more »
Disappointed that Auba couldn’t build on the spurs performance. I really want him to get back to how he was a couple of years ago, but time is passing, and side from last week he’s been terrible for too long.
We badly need a CF who can link the play and get/finish chances (or at least one of the two). Think we need to go back to Laca or give Nketiah a shot.
The match was summed up by Partey’s first half free kick, it should no interest in the game probably because of the atrocious weather conditions. Ødegaard was complete shit which didn’t help but overall a decent point.
thank God we got a point against the mighty brighton.
seriously though, what is football play is. I find it puzzling that this same graham potters came to brighton and changed the way they play within a year. When he first started, they where not having result because he didn’t care about result, all he wanted was the players to understand its footballing ideas thus no good result for them. Look at them now. Klopp did the same at liverpool. Please for God sake can someone explain to me what’s football is?
Our midfielders hid because of the cautious passive approach to the game from Arteta. It comes from the manager. Regarding our next few EPL games coming up it all depends on how Arteta approaches these games. This is the crux. We can talk about individual players all day but how Arteta sets up and approaches games dictates here. Crystal Palace and Watford should be disposed of. The only thing of real note that Palace have done this season is to beat what is at this time a wretched Spurs side. Villa could be the real tricky one and Leicester are… Read more »
JDP with 40% ball possesion is charlatan tactics.
Davi on point I didn’t check the comments yesterday but I doubt many of the Xhaka haters were pulling their hair out that Sambi had a bad game. We all accept that he will have good and bad days at his age. Most of us also said we never should’ve been depending on him as first choice anyway because most of us wanted a fantastic ready made CM to replace Xhaka so sambi could develop with less pressure as a rotation option whilst the starting 11 would also be improved whether by Bissouma or a similarly good player for now… Read more »
Arteta doing a bit of deflection from himself after the match last night. Sure the journos asked him the question about Xhaka but he could have easily said it is not about Xhaka at this time. He is not available and we must focus on what we do have available. But no he jumped in gleefully on the Xhaka is missed line. Pure deflection from himself. These journos are useless btw. Rather than asking Arteta about one solitary missing player who is never mentioned by neutrals as one of the better midfielders in the league by the end of any… Read more »
We should have a list of the away grounds where our maximum expectation is a draw.
If we cant beat bottom tablers, whether in their mamas bedroom, we have No chance of European football
Smith Rowe wasn’t good enough
—————
Pedro,
I thought he had a good game, our best player by far and nearly scored, maybe he should have squared it to Pepe who probably would’ve fucked it up anyway……
Auba hit the post, maybe without that stupid sweat band on his head in the pouring bloody rain he might have done better!
tough fight from the team yesterday. i was ok with the result. even the best arsenal teams of the past 15 years would have strugled yesterday. the only complaint i really have is that arteta took in my opinion way too long to correct some narrative ingame. the substitutes should have been introduced much earlier in my opinion. while i watched the game at home i allready thought about 30mins in that we should bring them on as soon as possible. but still glad that the team stood up to fight on a bad day at the shop and clawed… Read more »
People do.forget that our defence starts from the front. May I say that apart from Last week Auba has been terrible all season. Experience means shit when Both Saka and ESR are putting in a graft. Auba needs service Auba needs baby wipes When I saw that offside chance. He still wasn’t quick enough to finish that off. Everything has to be on a plate for him. And we need someone that can create for themselves. He is not even physical. Auba needs a kick up.the arse. Why Eddie isn’t being used or Laca is baffling. I’m ok with the… Read more »
Arteta knows all the little survival games.
He knows when he states and impies that Xhaka is sorely missed he is covering his own arse from two angles.
If the team do ok without Xhaka he can say look at how good I am that we can win a match without our absolutely essential Xhaka.
And if we lose a match he can say see we do miss this absolutely essential Xhaka greatly hence the defeat.
Others meanwhile see through this bullshit.
WHY was’nt Auba replaced earlier who clearly has
not got the game in this set up.?
Where are the ball winners..?
Lacking courage and meek – yes.
In the end it was a good point but its clear we have glaring weaknesses.
The most obvious is that we need an alternative to Auba. He is hopeless at holding the ball up so there is no outlet or time for others to get up in support. Thought he could have put Laca on earlier. Also Ode needs to man up in midfield and not get pushed off the ball so easily. Talk of top4 is ridiculous. We don’t have the experience or personnel.
I hoped after auba has scored a couple of goals recently and the buzz off an awesome NLD performance and goal Auba would’ve been kicking on back to his best but he seems to have remained an issue for the team
He’s played most of the games this season but I think only looked genuinely good in 2 of them
Auba will not look good if Arteta is cautious and passive in his overall approach in matches as we saw yesterday it’s as simple as that.
If Arteta was overall a brave coach then we could judge these individual players with far more scrutiny. But up to now overall Arteta is not a brave coach.
Amazing how many excuses there are, the best one is tiredness, we are playing one game per week, ffs.
Our players could have matched Brighton’s team surely.
It’s the manager he is toast
Ishola The PL is competitive I wasn’t surprised we struggled in the first 3 games, there were genuine mitigating circumstances, but yesterday we were poor, there’s no excuses I wouldn’t say 10/12 points is a given from our next 4 But that’s 2.5 points a game, and would put us on 95 points if sustained over 38 games, and it would bump up our average 10/12 from our next 4, is 20 points from 11 games, which would put us on 69 points if we carried on at that rate over 38 games I think we should be finishing 5th/6th,… Read more »
Pedro – when you say the midfield had a bad game are you referring to sambi and Partey only? IMO that needs to include Saka, ESR and Ode. If they aren’t showing for passes or creating angles how can the defenders beat the press. Bad management from Arteta there and a learning curve for the that 3 mentioned above. Agree with a few of the posters here. If you need a striker that presses Aubameyang ain’t your guy. Hard to find a striker that presses though AND is lethal in front of goal. A striker closing down is just wasted… Read more »
Cheers China1
Are arsenal more reliant on Xhaka than Brighton are in Bissouma?
Btw, all credit to Brighton and their manager. I think everyone underestimated them before this game. It reminds me of the jump Leicester took between their first season back in the PL (they did pay decent football that year) and the season they won the title – not that I think Brighton can go that far, but they certainly have developed an effective way of playing. Really just missing a striker who can finish.
Pedro, before the Spurs game you were saying Xhaka should be nowhere near the starting lineup. Now, one game later and 5 years into his stint: “Granit Xhaka was absent and we missed him.” I mean, come on, surely Bissouma was a much bigger miss for them, but it didn’t matter because their manager has them playing the same way regardless of who is on the pitch, and almost all of them worse than our players. Also, the idea that the ponderous Xhaka would have made any difference against the relentless Brighton press seems strange, no? I think unless things… Read more »
Are we 4 points off top 4, or 4 points off 16th (with the 5th worst GD, and the 3rd lowest goals scored in the league)?
As you say, we’ll find out a lot over the next 4 games: whether we can be in the ‘best of the rest’ bucket and try for 5th, or whether it’s another season battling for 7th/8th.
We need to start scoring goals. We haven’t scored in 4 of 7 PL games this season.
Rich It’s competitive but it’s even more competitive if you have a manager that is frightened to loosen up consistently in his approach. We should be beating Palace at home. We should be beating Watford at home. Leicester are not in good shape at all atm but as that is away and we may see caution again from Arteta we can’t say for sure how that will go. I think Villa at home could be the tricky one apart from the away match at Leicester. Even Palace at home could be not straightforward because of Arteta’s cautious approach but really… Read more »
BTW, Rich’s statement that Odegaard will prove better than Fernandes will prove laughable within a couple of years.
The fact is that most of our young players are peaking or just below peak so the age is irrelevant to the discussion.
Pedro I stated after the Spurs game, which was a great performance and result that Arsenal has a very young team who will provide “up and down” performances this season. We have to expect a lack of consistency and that was precisely what happened yesterday. Arsenal are in rebuild mode and no-one believes seriously that we will finish in top 4. What will be a good outcome would be to finish 5th and perhaps 4-6 points behind the top four. We need to walk before we learn to run. The goal needs to be to qualify for Europe and then… Read more »
Rich
Have you calmed down about Odegaard?
I can say that judging players with real scrutiny can be problematic when we have a manager that likes putting the handbrake on the overall side but at the same time marking Odegaard as world class seems a bit off at this early stage.
Same as some posters stating Tomiyasu as world class.
Both could become good signings over time for the club but this world class tagging of these players so early smacks of jumping the gun.
We missed xhaka? Pedro you’ve lost the plot completely… Also, calling this a “project” all the time is also irritating to say the least, like is rambling about young age profile of the squad.. Project sounds like plastic clubs i.e. chelski, shitty, p$g… In the last few weeks you sound more and more like a PR arm for the club… As I’m becoming too negative and really don’t feel good being a hater, I’ll switch off from visiting your site after so many years, as it’s not what it used to be (objective and standing your ground after something becomes… Read more »
Davi
“Leicester took between their first season back in the PL (they did pay decent football that year) and the season they won the title – not that I think Brighton can go that far, but they certainly have developed an effective way of playing. Really just missing a striker who can finish”
Yeah they play good football Brighton but the difference between them and Leicester of the past is that Leicester had a firing Vardy in their side and Brighton don’t have anything near that in terms of goals for the side.
Worry for me is that yesterday was the signal of arteta reign so far. No massive penetration. Saka esr solo being the ones to do anything. The noise was the Spurs game which was an aberration on what we have seen so far. The talk since NLD has been so skewed that we are now a class team. Yesterday was like many many games I’ve seeen, get rattled in first half, i then know we won’t score as it’s a hold on for half time. Expect something different next 45. First 15 nothing changes. Can the shape change can we… Read more »
Ah yes, “a PR arm for the club”.
Something very suspicious going on here.
This blog should no longer be called Le-grove. It should be renamed Pedro’s Mission or something along those lines.
It’s poor poor leadership and is showing Pedro up big time.
Quite simply the way teams play reflect their managers basic personality traits.
.x 3 Examples of younger coaches.
G Potter and his superbly disciplined and organised Brighton side go hand in hand.
T. Frank and his effervescent and entertaining Brentford side go hand in hand.
(Nuno is dull and useless so its no surprise Spurs are the same.)
Arteta is a passive, cautious and a bland character, its then no suprise , we continue to play in this fashion into his 3rd season.
This is where buying a 50 m cb hurts you. Xacka fanboy goes down and you have to turn to a green 21 ye old. The asset allocation was very poor.
We needed a top mf and missed out. Partey has an off game and now we stink. It was fairly predictable .
Well said Davi earlier about Xhaka.
If this Areta project relies so heavily on Granit Xhaka we may as well all chuck it in regarding ever getting in the top four again.
We all said the midfield needed a revamp.
Yet again it wasn’t done. Lokonga could become a good signing over time but one youngster from the Belgian League isn’t a revamp.
If we had a central midfield that overall that could be relied upon then maybe we would see braver football from Arteta on display.
Martinelli can’t find form if he doesn’t get played
Brighton xG: 1.12 Arsenal xG: 0.36
Good ebening.
You know why Martinelli was trending? AMN for saka is why. Shouldve been gabi coming on. AMN offred nothing going forward hes not the fastest player thanks to his casual approach. Gabi running and pressing couldve given brightons defense something to think about.
As per the new narrative from superfans on Le Grove we should expect and accept inconsistent form from Arsenal because the players signed during the summer are young and the manager is inexperienced too but the posters questioning hiring of an inexperienced manager and shelling £ 150M on young players are bedwetters. When we lost the first 3 games we were missing Partey, White and Gabriel even as Xhaka was ever present and received a red card too but now that Partey, Gabriel and White are all back it is the absence of Xhaka which cost us 2 points against… Read more »
Odegaard is a brilliant young player Bruno Fernandes wasn’t pulling up any trees at 22, he was slumming it with Udinese in Seria a, he scored 5 goals, off the back of scoring 3 goals in back to back seasons at 20+21 Grealish was a bit part player at Villa De Bruyne was dumped by Chelsea Gnabry was doing his third loan spell, this time at Hoffenheim, after a season with Werder Bremen, and a failed loan at West Brom Here’s the thing, if we want to sign 25/26yr olds coming into their prime like Grealish, it’ll cost us £100… Read more »
Marx
AMN is quite rapid and didn’t he come on in the 88th minute – Whats Martinelli going to give you in that time?
I suspect AMN was brought on to giveaway defensive cover to Tomi
Never mind the score, we were overrun yesterday. If Brighton had taken their chances it would have been a 3-0 defeat or 2-0 defeat at best – but they reverted to last season’s form in that respect (and only in that respect). Aside from ESR and Ramsdale, all our players were poor or at best average yesterday. Auba was shocking. I think we will do well to get one of the Europa League spots this season. What worries me is that so long as we don’t plummet to the foot of the table again I’m pretty sure Arteta’s job is… Read more »
Diet Pep relies on 2 mediocre tactics
1. Ball from CB to forwards
2. Cross from FB to forwards
Andy Carrol would excel in his team
Midfield play is non existent.
TR7 you bedwetter.
If you can’t see the benefit of spending over £200m upgrading an already ‘top 4 quality squad’ with young inexperienced players after achieving back-to-back 8th place finishes and no European midweek distractions to interrupt 5 days of generational coaching before every game with a gaffer two years into the job so that we can get a ‘hard earned point’ away to Brighton, I can’t help you.
And don’t mention xG. Mapping trend is so 2018.
As much as there were 4 or 5 poor performances out there yesterday, it is the manager’s team selection, system and tactics and how he reacts to what is happening on the pitch that will determine the outcome. No one could really argue with the team selection after last week’s perfoŕmance , although i was a little perplexed as to why Eddie is being ignored despite apparently being a beast in training…not even on the bench. However , what was concerning is how little Arteta did to change the momemtum of the game. It was pretty clear from about 20… Read more »
Kris Who are these young players who are already close to peaking? Saka 20? I don’t think so, we haven’t even scratched the surface of Saka’s overall potential Smith Rowe 21? He’s had half a season at Huddersfield, and hasn’t even started 30 PL games Sambi? Maybe you think a 21yr old from the Belgian league in his 4th PL start is peaking? Tomiyasu 22? He has played 4 PL games, he must be close to peaking? White + Gabriel 23 + 23? The youngest PL centre back pairing in the PL Close to peaking? We want to hope not,… Read more »
I never want to see Xhaka play for Arsenal again. His absence yesterday was utterly irrelevant ….utterly . Would we have won if he’d played ? How? Might we have lost ? Very possibly – a stupid error , a penalty a missed tackle or a red card on a tricky night weatherwise . If Xhaka was the big authoritative player his fans claim we would have seen it many times . We’ve scarcely ever seen it in five years of underperformance The team underperformed but Xhaka is not part of a glorious Arsenal future . There are so many… Read more »
It’s not Xhaka we needed per se, it’s that little extra bit of EXTRA experience amongst the youth.
Any young team would need more experience scattered amongst them than we had yesterday,
We could play Methuselah at CM and still have the youngest team in the PL.
Shameless Arsenal fans; shame on you. Yesterday with Granit in the side we do not fare any better, possibly worse. Anything will be said, and any length will be taken to absolve Arteta of any blame and defend him. Even Wenger wasn’t afforded such privileges.
Hard to see what the obsession is with such a meek, robotic, bland character anyway.
”””’But building a young team, is a process, particularly in the most competitive league in the world””” You are falling for the famous Arsenal baloney Rich. You go down the ‘young team route’ when you have no money to spend on players and you have no other option. Like A. Wenger did with the new stadium to be paid off. And yet the club have decided to spend £200 000 000 on young players to add to all the other talented young players at the club. We will have soon have so many young players, some of them won’t get… Read more »
The reason why we failed in midfield and high pressing is not and repeat is not the absence of Xhaka What a joke this is! The reason is obviously the team was set up to sit deep and go for the counter, ( coward tactics) against Brighton When we had the ball the whole team would be behind it with only the hapless Auba available. The lack of cohesion between midfield and attack was purely down to how the team was set up Xhaka would have done worse and probably cost us all points. You can’t spin this around If… Read more »
Graham62 I posted on the previous thread but I hope your son enjoyed the game yesterday. Unfortunately didn’t hear much noise coming from the away end yesterday but I was at the other end of the ground. https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-brighton-0-0-arsenal-graham-potter-mikel-arteta?utm_source=vuukle&utm_medium=talk_of_town The above is a somewhat fair article. I think we do need to accept that the direction we have chosen to take will result in games like yesterday and we likely would have lost this fixture last season. We need to see where the team is at after the run of games leading up to the new year, there are games in… Read more »
Graham Potter put it in one word: when asked why they held Arsenal, his answer was COURAGE. The bravery to play Arsenal man-to-man, leaving spaces behind, knowing that if bypassed, they might concede a goal. The conditions favoured them. Without the wind and the rain, Saka, ESR, Odegaard would have floated past them. And Auba might have aroused himself enough to score. Nevertheless, a draw at Brighton in their current form is a well-earned point. Not conceding a goal is a signal of a sound defence. Will Arteta show the courage to shed Auba in Jan if a big offer… Read more »
Back to blaming the weather like it too prevented Brighton from having 55% possession, 21 shots to our 8, and a higher xG.
Imagine without the wind and rain what they would’ve done to us.
Good post Chris, it’s hard not to have doubts over Arteta but just as Rich posted too, to ignore the realities of a young team – fantastic potential but the likliehood of inconsistent performances- is not showing intelligent thinking. Yesterday only Gabriel and ESR achieved anything like their level of performance from the Spuds game. You would hope that the few experienced players would have stepped up, Partey and PEA were not impressive. Lacazette would have held the ball up a lot more capably than PEA. Arteta needs to be more proactive when he sees the way a game is… Read more »
Its obvious that the Spurs performance was and remains the anomaly for this team and its enigmatic manager. What we saw yesterday was once again another in long line of abject and drab performances. Its not about Xhaka being missed, nor is it about this that or the other thing. No, its always been about a manager who hasn’t a clue about how to actually manage a 90 minute match. But of course we cant say such things because, well, you have to trust the process. So I’m asking, what process? What exactly qualifies as a “process”when this team keeps… Read more »
CG Look at our squad, look at the age profile of yesterday’s starting 11 Then analyse that against last seasons top 4 We’re going to come up short for top 4 this season, because there’s 4 better and more mature teams/squads We’ll likely be within a cluster of clubs between 5th-9th We’ll have plenty of ups + downs, but we can edge out those teams, and get into 5th/6th Most of our improvements over the next couple of seasons, will be internal, rather than external What’s important now is we keep this young team together, we don’t have our Crown… Read more »
xG table
Burnely 11th
Brighton 15th
Spurs 18th
Brentford 19th
Norwich 20th
We will face better teams, winter is coming!
“The conditions favoured them. Without the wind and the rain, Saka, ESR, Odegaard would have floated past them. And Auba might have aroused himself enough to score.”
Comedy Central
“Arsenal are building a team for 2022-23 + onwards”
What will happen from 2022-23 onwards Rich? League titles or simply fighting for top four? If its the latter then that’s a very unambitious project
Pierre
An accurate analysis in my view. For once in agreement with practically your every word.
Arteta has umpteen alternatives to Auba: Laca, Martinelli, Eddie, Balogan, even Pepe. Like you I fancy Eddie as the man for the job. Perhaps, he’s being left out because his agent won’t agree a contract.
I hope Arteta offers Laca a short-term extension in Jan.
Lastly, to keep things normal, the key that mostly unlocked Auba’s goals early on was Laca, not Ozil.
Chris, Bob, Pete Yep, young team that hasn’t even played a handful of games. I thought the lads showed real character to dig in yesterday.. For some of these, this is a new experience and they’re learning game by game. Team development takes time, as anyone who wants to be honest accepts. I thought Gabriel & white looks like a potential great partnership but that takes time. Our two worst performers were probably our most experienced, Auba & Partey. Anyway, 10 from 12 is good, that point and a clean sheet keeps confidence & momentum going., Character is really important… Read more »
Rich 12:19
Great post mate 👆
Watford, in 14th, sack Xisco Munoz, with the board saying: “The board feels recent performances strongly indicate a negative trend at a time when team cohesion should be visibly improving.”
So the first manager to be sacked race is now over!
To be fair, looking at their fixtures they’ve just had all their easier games and only won twice, with an incoming slate against the big teams.
Regarding Tierney and his very recent mediocre form he is too isolated. When you see good attacking fullbacks in other teams they are getting much better support and interplay from their team mates. What we have seen from Tierney is that he is given the ball on the flank but his starting point is not really advanced. This in itself is not a problem. The problem is that no player many times then goes to support him further up after he has made a run with the ball to interchange with him at a later time and then open up… Read more »
Bob N16
“to ignore the realities of a young team – fantastic potential but the likliehood of inconsistent performances- is not showing intelligent thinking.”
I’m not sure they are that challenged from a football perspective. It’s probably more a case of dishonest debating & faking outrage. When players like Tomi are personally & arguably racially abused on here, as he was last night, It certainly makes you wonder what’s in their heads.
Englandsbest
Yes Auba was poor yesterday. Missed a sitter when ESR fired the ball across the 6 yard line, on his heels. His touch was off too. In games like that you need your strikers to hold the ball up, he kept losing it. Laca is so much better at that.
This bed wetters nonsense isn’t as witty as some of you think it is. First half against Spurs was so well received because it wasn’t a typical Arteta performance, some even used the term turned a corner. Yesterday was a typical Arteta performance, so we haven’t really turned a corner,. That’s concerning after 22 months in charge, regardless of squad age. Potter was missing players yesterday but his team played with an identity everyone has come to expect since he took over. Arteta’s idea of football is a safety first small margins approach that has yielded 5 league goals on… Read more »
Ian Wright
“In the end I think that’s a fantastic point for Arsenal with that young team”
Receding “This bed wetters nonsense isn’t as witty as some of you think it is.” The joke is on them Receding but of course they don’t see it. No-one should give a toss about projects for projects sake. All that fans should be concerned about is seeing the team playing some progressive football with some entertainment thrown in as well or at least attempting to. We haven’t seen this in any way on a consistent basis from Arteta thus far and until that changes the joke is clearly on them. What’s the point of a project that is meant to… Read more »
Doesn’t everyone need to be aroused in order to score?
Rich ””””Arsenal are building a team for 2022-23 + onwards”””’ If it was only as simple as that, they all be doing that. Buying these young players and then hey presto it all clicks and you win the league title. This ‘sunlit uplands’ thinking is naive in the extreme. Too many assumptions and too many unknowns, Anyway , young players don’t always improve. Just look at Tierney, Leno , Martinelli and Bellerin. All probably peaked at AFC. Worry about this season , next season can wait and with only 38 games this season, Arsenal should make use of that advantage… Read more »
AFC – I make a point of not coming on Legrove straight after an average or poor performance. I try and get away from my Arsenal obsession. I also know that those people who are dead set against Arteta will dive in and create an echo chamber of negativity which would just make me more depressed about the result. Listening to the negativity, however reasoned some of the thought processes might be, does not help in any way my ‘getting over’ the taste of a disappointing match. I appreciate it’s some people’s preferred way of exorcising a match but others… Read more »
Ishola the narrative this season is going to be all about the age of the squad. For the next three months too Xhaka’s name will come up anytime we are completely dominated but will be totally forgotten if we play well.
Its all very exhausting.
Arteta is a very clever fellow,he has bought himself a further 12 months of underperforming with the squids age, the first 18 months of his tenure has yielded nothing and has been pretty much written off. He is always at the start of his project, the start date depends on the fixture list of course.
Ishola, how quickly would you expect this much changed, young team to knock out consistently good performances?
Do you accept there is likely to be a ‘bedding in’ process or should we expect consistently top 4 quality performances straight away?
Expectations should be high but is it realistic for the team to reach its full potential almost immediately?
“The more experienced Arsenal fan was probably expecting a bit of hangover after the Spurs game. The hype was unreal and the setting for the next game was small, windy, and rainy…..”
Oh yes, the hype was truly unreal.
“but others seem to wallow in the ‘I told you so’ rhetoric which again, adds nothing to my experience.”
Bob you mean like the ones who spent the week after Spurs going after other posters who still had reservations on Arteta. The same ones now using the weather as an excuse for a “solid point” away to Brighton
There are two separate issues here:
1) Is there a plan to develop a young squad to realistically challenge to the top teams when they develop their collective potential?
2) Is Arteta fit to be the manager to develop this ‘new’ team?
Some people are already poopooing (1)’ the project’ because they can’t stand Arteta.
Bob As others have said this is not about the players to a large extent. It’s about Arteta himself. We are seeing the same traits from his teams whether it be this new phase team this season or the teams he had in his first and second seasons. And these traits are many times cautious, negative, passive. It remains to be seen whether Arteta can shack off these shackles with this new phase side this season. As it stands atm as another poster has said Arteta’s character is being reflected on the Arsenal sides he is managing including this season’s… Read more »
Pedro last season: “ Next season there won’t be any excuses for Arteta to hide behind.”
Pedro this season: the players are new to each other, the squad is the youngest in the league, we got hit by covid, we have had injuries, a tough schedule, the grass was too long and too dry, the grass was too wet and the wind too strong, we weren’t brave enough ( the players , not Arteta),
I’m okay with a point away against a well drilled Brighton team who are having a great start to their season.
We weren’t at a high enough level but looked generally solid at the back with just a couple of exceptions.
I can get on board with signs of progress and it is encouraging to see such a young team; they’ll only grow together over the course of the season
But Tom, do you think the ‘negative hype’ of a poor draw against Brighton whose manager felt they had played their best game of the season, is also ‘unreal’?
Receding- why do you paint the narrative in such a binary light? It’s bordering on playground, pantomime positioning. ‘They said…’ ‘ But he said….’
Ishola, I have serious doubts about Arteta too but I see the sense of the acquisitions we made this Summer and the path we’re trying to follow.
It’s going to be difficult to separate the teething problems of a young squad and the inadequacies of our present manager!
Receding Hairline
I make YOU exhausting.
No, a better word is boring. Your bad-mouthing of Arteta is repetittious, inaccurate and out of synch with what is going on.
CG Elite sports is about managing the immediate, medium, and longer term The reality is we’re still paying for past mistakes Mustafi £35million £100k p/w, left on a free Sokratis £17mill, £100k p/w, left on a free Luiz £8mill, £120k p/w, left on a free Ozil, £42mill, £300k p/w, left on a free Kolasinac £120k p/w, sitting out his contract, waiting to leave on a free Mkhitaryan £170k p/w, left on a free Ramsey £120k p/w, left on a free Ceballos, 2yr loan Welbeck £100k p/w left on a free Cech £100k p/w left on a free Koscielny £100k p/w… Read more »
Tom, Pedro, rightly or wrongly, gets a lot of stick for writing off Arteta and then seeing the summer incomings appearing to give him a red set and a clean slate with a ‘ new team’ to work with. Personally I feel , no offence to Pedro, the issue that matters is all about Arsenal and very little to do with Pedro. I don’t really give a flying f*ck about whether Pedro has more or less confidence in Arteta than me. That being said I very much appreciate all Pedro’s efforts and commitment to keep Legrove running as it helps… Read more »
Rich
“Our success will now be depended on the quality of our recruitment, squad planning, contract management, and player retention”
The manager overseeing is quite important as well Rich.
As we see with Man United they can keep on signing big names and have erratic imbalanced squad building but as long as Solksjaer is in tow they won’t be hitting the real heights.
It’s like fans don’t think managers are important any more.
Who needs a good manager eh as long as we have the players.
“Your bad-mouthing of Arteta is repetittious, inaccurate and out of synch with what is going on.” Bad mouthing? Can I get instances? Out of sync with what’s going on…what exactly is going on? He wasted 18 months doing nothing. Is that false? No. His team still have no identity besides the passive negative small margins nonsense. His teams don’t score enough. Do they? What exactly is going on that I need to get in sync with? The age of the squad and how they will all blossom st once? These are players not crops planted at the same time while… Read more »
Ishola70
Where do you expect this squad of players to finish this season?
Where do you think Arteta will finish in comparison to your expectations?
How many points do you think we should be getting?