DRAB BRIGHTON PERFORMANCE YIELDS A SOLID POINT

by .

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.

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.

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Receding Hairline

“Not all these players will make it, but we’ve assembled quite the collection of elite young talent,”

Rich what exactly makes them elite?

englandsbest

Tom

An exercise in double-think.

The list you gave (covid, tough schedule, etc) are explanations, not excuses – and every one of them was true.

Tom

“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’?“ It depends,Bob. If we’re just talking about points alone then the overreaction from some is over the top. No PL team is guaranteed points anywhere in this league. But if we talking performance, as I believe most level headed posters are, the negative takes are pretty much right on point. Look, I get it, the Arteta is the best thing since sliced bread crowd felt their redemption moment had finally come… Read more »

Ishola70

Rich

I’m thinking 6th to 8th with 6th being gettable.

It all depends on Arteta himself.

You seem fixated on just the players and ignoring the Arteta affect here.

Of course you can accuse others of having too big a fixation on Arteta.

But to me it seems clear if Arteta himself starts to loosen up a bit in his approach to games overall then the better it will be.

Ishola70

Receding
“Rich what exactly makes them elite?”

That’s good news if they are elite.

It means we don’t have to worry about Arteta.

The elites will work around Arteta’s cautiousness.

That’s if they are all elite of course.

englandsbest

Receding Hairline

Try re-reading your post if you want instances of bad-mouthing.

And if by now you haven’t figured out what is going on (i.e. the process), then I guess you never will.

Receding Hairline

“Try re-reading your post if you want instances of bad-mouthing.”

This means you either can’t find instances of bad mouthing or you don’t know what bad mouthing means, either way boring. Saying a man is failing in his job, a job he has been in for 22 months but still has no set targets or tangible progress made in overall style of play isn’t bad mouthing.

He won an FA cup shit housing teams and that’s about it as far as his coaching talents and in game management goes, that’s the process.

Rich

Arteta hasn’t wasted 18 months doing nothing We’ve educated Saka, who’s one of the standout young players in world football We’ve brought through Smith Rowe 21, one of the league’s standout young players We’ve put together the youngest centre back pairing in the PL, that could sit in our defence for the next 7-8 seasons Arteta has spent around £220 million, so let’s break that down Partey – £45 mill, he’s been injured too much, but a good player Gabriel £25mill, good young defender, 23, best days ahead of him Those were Arteta’s two big signings before this season, and… Read more »

CG

Rich

in your world , Odegaard is brilliant and the best signing since Sanchez and our youngsters are elite.

The only thing elite about them is the price tag they carry.

Brilliant players and elite players score in nearly every game they play.

They are simply a bunch of promising youngsters, which nearly all top clubs possess.

Arsenal have scored 5 goals in 7 league games
and 1 in 3 away from home.So this season is following last season- we simply dont score enough goals.

Which is hardly a surprise as we have the same manager.

Receding Hairline

“We’ve educated Saka, who’s one of the standout young players in world football” Saka is the only reason he still has a job, practically carried us throughout last season in spite of Arteta. As for the rest of your submission that revisionism based on failure. He intended to win the UCL in three years remember! This new project was dreamed up to mask the failure. We wouldn’t have put Auba. Willian, Mari and Soares on long term deals if project youth was the target once he walked through the door. What exactly have we gained from the last 18 months… Read more »

Kris

We don’t have elite talent. Saka comes close, and ESR is somewhat close. Everyone else is either not elite or has already peaked despite the young age. People forget that a huge percentage of players nowadays start peaking between 20 and 22 due to early access to top quality coaching. Gone are the days of waiting til they’re 25 (except in some defenders and some GKs. But only some. Majority of world’s top GKs, for example, were already elite by the time they were 23). These players need a better manager, and they will thrive even if most of them… Read more »

Kris

Also, Saka and ESR were “educated” at the academy, and were given their first chances under Emery not Arteta. They have achieved despite Arteta who only started playing them when he was cornered due to injuries. Remember: Arteta preferred Willian to either of them, even when he was shit game-in game-out.

Elmo

Bob Completely agree there are two separate and mutually exclusive issues: (1) the youth rebuild; (2) Arteta. I haven’t heard anyone who is against the club rebuilding with younger players. Meanwhile, there are plenty who believe the manager is holding us back. Now, as you rightly point out, a necessary consequence of a young squad is some degree of inconsistency. However, there is a floor to what is acceptable at a club like Arsenal. Bearing in mind he entered the season with no banked goodwill at all due to 18 months of risk-averse football, 4 games out of 7 without… Read more »

Leftside

Yep, over the course of a season we do not score enough goals to do anything of note. We’ve been out of the CL for how many years now? Why should we accept more excuses for failure, zero targets so Arteta can become a good manager?

Then what? As soon as he becomes a good manager and thats a big if, he likely runs for the hills.

Vintage Gun

I think too much spin is going on on this site lately to the point it’s spinning out of control. Results and performances will dictate Arteta’s fate. Results and performances. Just like it did Wenger in his end years, just like it did Emery and just like it will when the next guy takes over after Arteta. Pedro, me or anyone else can say or spin it whatever way we want (4pts off 2nd vs 4pts of 16th for example.) but results and performances will be the deciding factor. And we need to preform better on a more consistent basis… Read more »

Nelson

“He intended to win the UCL in three years remember! This new project was dreamed up to mask the failure. We wouldn’t have put Auba. Willian, Mari and Soares on long term deals if project youth was the target once he walked through the door.”
__________________________________________________________________________

Obviously, the priority of the club / KSE has changed. Arteta has tried to put paper over the crack initially to get back to play European football. I am happy they go project youth. There is hope in the future.

Dolomite

Calling the NLD an anomaly and the Brighton game as true to type is not only overly negative but extremely knee jerk even from a statistical perspective- 2 games into a full team selection and some genius types have already predicted how our entire season will pan out.

The same clowns who immediately wrote off both Ramsdale and White yet still can’t come to terms that they’re actually a massive improvement on what we had.

Vintage Gun

Regarding yesterdays match. Result = acceptable. Performance= shocking. Simple as.

Positives = Defence didn’t concede and stood firm

Negatives = Performance and tactics

raptora

AFC: “As for the disgusting insults & racial slur about Tomi last night, is that really the mark of a true Arsenal fan? Fucking embarrassing behaviour.” “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.” One incel racially offends Tomi and now it’s a symbol of all the “moaners”. What an embarrassing take even for AFC. How embarrassing do yo have… Read more »

Bob N16

Agree Elmo, there could come a point that Arteta does not prove the doubters wrong ( I am in that camp). These bloody international breaks have meant most have read far too much into the results so far. As with most seasons, 10-12 games give a much clearer indication of where we are. Nobody can predict how easily this team will gel. The Brighton game reminded us of that. If we’d beaten them 2-0, we’d all be ( not all!) gazing wistfully at the table and calculating how close to Liverpool we’d be by the time we played them. Let’s… Read more »

CG

Left side

”””’Why should we accept more excuses for failure, zero targets so Arteta can become a good manager?””””

KSE are so consumed in keeping Arteta in his job at all costs, they are missing the bigger picture and not taking the opportunities that are out there.

1. Conte and ZZ availability
2. Making the most of this unique x 38 game season.

Arteta can’t manage with 1 game at week , he has no chance when Arsenal are back in Europe and on the Europa treadmill.

Rich

CG Which elite youngsters score + assist consistently in the PL? Saka had 5 goals in the PL last season, which up until Greenwood’s goals in the last few games, was as many as all the other teenagers in the league combined Saka went from sitting out the back end of 2019/20 season, didn’t get on the pitch in the FA cup semi final or final Inside 10 months, he’d broken into the England first team at the Euro’s Smith Rowe went from saving Huddersfield from relegation, to taking the Arsenal No 10 shirt and a 5yr contract, in less… Read more »

Dissenter

I wonder why the excuses never include the fact that we have a young manger learning in the job.
Yes, we signed some younger players too but Arteta’s inexperience and tactical stiffness has been contributory.
The manager seems to have diplomatic immunity from criticisms in the mind of many here. They take criticism against Arteta has personal affronts.
Now, posters who aren’t sold on Arteta or tired of Arteta have to deal with the extra tag of being racists.

Dolomite

Dissenter

A racist comment is a racist comment.

Regardless of your position on Arteta or Arsenal.

Personally I’ll call it out regardless of any posters stance.

Dissenter

Dolomite
A racist comment made by ONE poster that was immediately called out by all those posting at the time, the said poster showed contrition, Pedro can choose to ban him forever.

Smearing other posters with that racist post just because they disagree with you is just as malicious as the racist post itself

This was an isolated post made by one individual. It has nothing g it do with fans that believe that Arteta is in over his head or have problems with Ben White etc.

Rich

Kris How many 20-22yr olds are currently at the peak of their powers, playing in the PL, week in and week out, at top clubs? Foden is used sparingly, and surrounded by top class and experienced professionals Yesterday Chelsea started with Hudson Odoi 20, Chalobah 22, Chilwell 24 As their only players under 25 Man City last week, Dias 24, Foden 21, only players under 25 Liverpool against Brentford, Jones 20, Arnold 22, Jota 24 United’s only players under 25 were Wan Bissaka 23, and Greenwood 20, who’s a top talent, but still has nowhere near Saka’s experience at the… Read more »

raptora

Dolomite: “Personally I’ll call it out regardless of any posters stance.”

How it should be.

Sid

We did Not have these excuses when our midfield was run by Guen Torr and a 23 year old Ceballos. We achieved EL

Words on a blog

Emery knew how to set the team up to attack, but couldn’t for the life of him set up.a defence.

Arteta knows how to set up the team to defend, but can’t for the life of him set up an attack.

Both are flawed managers, even if Emery was at least more proactive in in-game management.

Words on a blog

AFC’s position strikes me as eminently reasonable and logical.

All anti-Arteta posters aka bed-wetters are anti-Japanese bigots.

Nigel Tufnel

China, I was wrong in calling you a hater yesterday. I Read some further comments by you and see that I was off base. On the game, I wasn’t even that bothered by the result as I felt we were fortunate, because the performance was so bad. It’s just that I get irritated by the Arteta haters here. I am not a big fan of Arteta, but I want him to have a further chance for now. But guys like Partey and Sambi and even Øde, who I think is great, had a horrible day. Worse than bad. You could… Read more »

sly

CP playing well

Nigel Tufnel

Villa equalize. A draw would be the best result.

sly

Good points Nigel

Nigel Tufnel

Stupid spurs.

sly

CP equalize 2-2
won’t be a walk in the park from what i’m seeing lol

Time Up

Jamie,

Brighton xG: 1.12 Arsenal xG: 0.36
Good ebening.
——————————————————

The xG is sooooo yesterday soooooo Emery now. We use to get slapped on the face with those xG every morning.

Now, lucky results are prove we’re hard to beat team, not that we’re boring team and Brighton crap at scoring.

I was surprised The Potter didn’t go for Eddie as part of White deal, missed a trick there.

GoonerDave

The real bedwetters are the ones triggered by any comment they deem racist. Get over it. They are just words. Words cannot actually damage you (unless you identify as a person who becomes damaged by words?). Being so utterly brainwashed that you get offended on behalf of others is completely pathetic. Worse still is the fake virtue signaling that accompanies it. Grown men triggered by words. How pathetic. There are plenty of people in the world today who are discriminated against. Not words. Actual discrimination. But plenty of you would prefer to look woke in front of strangers on a… Read more »

Time Up

If you want to keep Arteta as a manger, you MUST accept boring low scoring eye bleeding matches. He can’t offer more than that bar the odd game here or there.

That’s reality we MUST accept.

Vintage Gun

Bollocks Gooner Dave. The guy who said it apologised and we moved on. Abuse the players performance if you must but why is it acceptable to racially abuse him over it? And your upset because he got called out? Ok mate.

Fool

James wood.

The CISCO KID SACKED AT WATFORD.
THAT’s being PRO ACTIVE..

Rich

Sid

Emery’s first season was nowhere near the disaster some made it out to be

The league has become much more competitive since 2019/20

There’s very little difference in quality between a cluster of clubs between 5th and 9th

Other than the top 3-4 clubs, overall it’s going to be a fine margins league, where everyone takes points off each other

The BFB

O K Pedro you win. Arteta is doing a wonderful job and his project now has my full support. After all 10 points from 7 games is not too shabby and who can fail to be impressed by the total of 5 goals scored in that period. We are now in a position to mount a serious challenge for a Champion’s League place and I imagine the top teams will be quaking in their boots at the thought of playing us. Just a couple of observations: I can’t fathom why Tottenham, who are shite apparently, are sitting above us in… Read more »

salparadisenyc

Palace considerably better the Leicester in that, Rodgers fortunate to be escaping with a point.

BRENTFORD at the death.

sly

brentford 2 WHU 1
6th tier football recruits

DivineSherlock

This we-missed-Xhaka thought is so fucking stupid line to take. If the problem was that Brighton were pressing the midfield , how the fuck would the slowest midfielder , with the temperament of Joey Barton was supposed to help us . He turns so slow that even Mertesacker couldve caught him .

Umar

Pedro’s love for arteta is beyond reality. We clearly missed Xhaka’s control and we need to get ready for this performances. Other than that. I’d point to arteta’s lack of adaptation to this game as the issue. If you can’t control a game because your midfield cannot handle thiers and their leftback is so high you’d be forgiven for thinking he is a winger. You abandon your plan to hold until the ball. You adjust. I’d have saka on the left, martinelli on the right and Auba up front. I’d have Niles at right wing back and convert tomiyasu to… Read more »

Aaron

5 goals in 7 games!

AFC are in deep $h*Te.

No high press, no service to Auba.

No chance creation as our midfield was in shambles yesterday.

If Saka misses significant time xG going to get even worse.

Draw city is going to kill this squads trajectory.

Not going to score 60 goals this season means 8th or worse.

CG

Rich

”””Other than the top 3-4 clubs, overall it’s going to be a fine margins league, where everyone takes points off each other””’

Thats why, most of your resources should always be spent on attacking players not defensive ones.Helps with them fine margins, goals!

Arteta has burned through £220 million and we still struggle to score goals.

Joint 2nd lowest with Wolverhampton, Burnley, Saints but in front of Norwich City.

A pattern that repeats itself every season with this manager.

Nigel Tufnel

Good results for us today. Leicester draw.. West Ham lose. Brentford make us look better every week by proving they’re pretty good, and losing to them with the China virus chaos looking more and more understandable.

Villa losing is next best thing to a draw. Tottenham are so sh1t they will not be relevant to top 6 in the end. Villa much more of a threat overall. Always nice to see Emi lose hehe…..He still looked great though from what I saw near the end.

Again, fvck u Emi Martinez. Same to loser Harry Kane too. Dirty player.

Rich

Liverpool just 2 players under the age of 27 today Jota 24, Jones 20 Man City 3 players under 25 Jesus 24, Dias 24, Foden 21 Arsenal yesterday 2 players north of 25 1 player 24 8 players 23 or under 2 players making just their 4th PL start A new keeper + centre back pairing playing their 4th game together, with a new right back also in his 4th game It’s crystal clear what we’re trying to do, anyone not expecting ups + downs, and very little between a cluster of clubs between 5th-9th, is setting themselves unrealistic expectations… Read more »

sly

lol Umar
i actually thought cucurella was a winger yesterday

Ishola70

Rich

It’s not about the age of the players.

It’s the football that is played.

You can have good progressive entertaining football from a bunch of oldies.

It doesn’t matter.

It’s the manager and coaches overseeing that has the influence.

Rich

CG What, and block the path of Saka + Smith Rowe? We signed Odegaard, who’ll surprise quite a few people over the next 12-18 months I suspect we’d have signed Tammy Abraham, but without moving on a striker, it was impossible Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun, Martinelli The big mistake for me was not signing a central midfielder, Xhaka is a bigger miss than many seem to think Integrating Sambi at a slower rate would have been better, particularly with so many young players elsewhere We should have also got Balogun out on loan, it’s clear he’s way past under 23… Read more »

DivineSherlock

The way Arteta makes us play is we need to have good movement in the front 3 , against Spurs we won a lot of balls in the midfield area and transitioned well to attack . Brighton didnt allow us that, also Smith Rowe & Saka played too deep so no great movement upfront but yeah Xhaka was missed ? We would have probably lost with him in the side .

Spudnik

Good result given the poor performance. And not a lucky point.

curse

The most disappointing thing about yesterday was ESR. He had the chance to play an early ball to Saka who most likely would have converted given his position. But he went for glory instead, hitting it straight at the keeper. I also didn’t like how much the weather seemed to affect this team, doesn’t bode well as we get deeper into autumn. That said, given the average age and the amount of time they’ve had together against a very competitive league that have many teams that are further in their development, I can’t moan about a point away to a… Read more »

Ishola70

Pedro stated on a recent blog title heading that we had the youngest starting XI recently.

Is this is a victory in itself? Or is it excuse making if the team are erratic in gaining results?

Whatever it is I don’t see the point in shouting this from the rooftops.

What does it prove?

Until we see exciting refreshing football from this young side on a consistent basis under Arteta which incidentally you usually associate with younger players then it means nothing.

underrated Coq

Rich,

What’s the guarantee that all these young players will actually hit their potential? Where is the guarantee they will stick together and not jump ship in a season or two?

Your pleading for time and support for Project Youth is boring. Why don’t you turn back the pages and review the last two Project Youth that Wenger tried?

Olumide

I wonder if after Real Madrid won their 4th champions league trophy in 5 years, their fans were asking: “is the team young enough? We can’t celebrate if our players are over 25?” I don’t care about our players’ ages. Get players of whatever age you need to win. What did we get out of Wenger’s project youth? And those players showed more promise than these ones. Nagelsmann (a young manager) got RB Leipzig (a young team) playing well and scoring goals. But Arsenal can’t score goals and win games because our manager and players are too young. If you’re… Read more »

DivineSherlock

curse

It was Pepe , ESR couldve squared it to him . But he was right to take that shot , not his day . Its good showed he had a hunger to score .

DivineSherlock

My hope is we do the same with Xhaka’s position and bring someone new & young or a PL ready player like Bissouma.

Chris

Bernardo Silva my goodness, twinkle toes or what?!

Kris

Bernardo Silva, what a little genius of a player.

2 levels above Odegaard and people were scoffing over signing him.

Olumide

Pedro
Olumide, Madrid operate on a different level to Arsenal. Thinking we’re able to do what they can is a delusion.

That’s not my point. Whether you’re 22 or 27 or 32, what you offer on the pitch is what matters.

We’ve only scored 5 goals out of 7 games. I’ve only enjoyed one half of football this season (against Spurs). Most games are difficult to watch, to say the least.

And we’re supposed to be joyful because we have young players?

Chris

I think most Arsenal fans would take Bissouma over Xhaka every day of the week and twice on Sunday’s.

Rich

Underrated Coq We have no choice but to get behind project youth, that’s the direction of travel I agree the dangers are we educate these young players, then they jump ship But what’s the alternative? Swap the experience of Cedric, for the inexperience of Tomiyasu? Holding for White? Mari for Gabriel? Leno for Ramsdale? Kolasinac for Tierney? Elneny for Sambi? Push Aubameyang wide, Lacazette central, and drop Smith Rowe? Drop Saka, in favour of Pepe’s superior end product? Or go with the younger players, and try build a young team from scratch, but accepting that we’ll have to accept the… Read more »

DivineSherlock

Pedro

Well if we are moving to a 4-3-3 , then we need someone like him . Not a slow turtle.

raptora

For a less contact Luiz was shown a red + pen Vs Wolves.

BacaryisGod

Sly

Sorry-missed your question from yesterday. The main reason I can’t see is getting 10 points from the next 4 games is that one-half of football aside our attacking player has been predictable and disjointed. Sure, we could catch fire but there’s not one team from Palace, Villa, Leicester and Watford that will be intimidated by us.

If I was a bookie, I would put the line at 6.5 points from the next 4 games.

Kris

If Man City sign Haaland, the league will be ruined even if Pep leaves.

Chris

Kris

Bernardo is still a joy to watch, the way he danced away from the Liverpool players there, including van Dijk, and then set up Foden. It deserved a goal from Bernardo’s contribution alone.

This game really needs a goal in itself, City look confident going forward and Liverpool a touch flat at the moment.

DivineSherlock

Getting Xhaka has got us nowhere up until now . Its like pining for a Mustafi. I’d rather keep playing Lokonga there .

Chris

City now penning liverpool in and knocking at the door. Similar to the Chelsea game last week.

curse

divinesherlock, was it? either or I think that was the right option for the team. Maybe he thought the pass was more difficult than taking it on himself but he’s gotta score there if that’s the case.

sly

i’m with you Bac
I like the recruitment strategy, but we need world class coaching to get the best out of this team
Our team looked like a deer in headlights yesterday and that has been the trend through the season barring the NLD
Mikel did well against Tottenham
No where to hide in the next 4 games
CP will be a real test

Sid

The fact that we are concerned about results of mid table teams shows how Diet Pep has spread the mediocre mentality to his fanboys

Chris

That was a phenomenal pass from Ederson. One penalty area to another in a flash! Again, deserved a goal. The way it’s going City will take this in the second half.

Sid

Crystal palace and Watford fans must be celebrating being only 3 points away from Arsenal

Leftside

City should be out of sight, perhaps if they had a finisher up top.

DivineSherlock

Pedro

Looks like that ship has sailed though, Neves looks absolutely important to how Wolves play . Doubt they’ll let him go easy . Another solid choice would be Soucek , not that West Ham would let him go easy as well .

underrated Coq

Rich, The alternative is to get a DoF and Coach that have a clue and let them drive the recruitment and football. For the last 10-15 years, we backed Wenger and watched him fluff it, with Project Youth 1.0 then the British Core then the Splurge. There’s a tendency to point to the Failed big money purchases to justify Project Youth 3.0 by some people here. Which is disingenuous considering why we started Splurging money is because the Project Youth failed. See we’re just going around and repeating the cycle without acknowledging the problem. It wasn’t Project Youth or The… Read more »

LoveSausage

Foden gets better every time I see him play. What a talent that kid is.

DivineSherlock

Liverpool without Trent and Thiago create absolutely nothing , not a surprise . City might rue those missed chances though, Klopp will change things in 2nd half

Sid

Neves would have been a good buy for Arsenal, more important than a CB.

zeus

Pep must be annoyed that the Messi situation didn’t become clear before City spent 100m on Jack G. The PL really deserved to see Pep and Messi link up every week. It wasn’t to be.

Sid

Palace and Watford are mediocre teams and so are their fans expectations

Rich

Pedro It’s knowing went to stick, and knowing when to twist Wenger in his early year was the master of knowing when to dump a player, and recognising when a young players career was about to take off We’ve been horrible at that in recent years Managers come and go, I’m more concerned that we have competent bureaucrats pulling the strings If we get our scouting, recruitment, squad planning, contract management right Then whoever our manager is, will have a much easier job I’m not sure I want the Dortmund model, I’d rather we held onto our Crown Jewels, and… Read more »