Results have been a bit of a mixed bag for us since Friday, but still positive. Arsenal will be 3 points off top 4, regardless of how the rest of Sunday’s games go (United getting pummelled, so we’re on the same points as them).
That’s where we need to be on January 1st. Why does that date matter? Because my suspicion is that by then, our players will have bedded into the club, performances will be of a higher level because the cognitive style of the system will have matured, and we don’t have any Europe to contend with, so we’ll be fresher.
Post-Christmas last season was very good for us. If we’d been within spitting distance of top 4 by January, we’d have been in the top 4 at the end of the season. It wasn’t to be.
The big difference this season is that at about this time last year, we were about to go on a massive dip in form. We weren’t creating chances, we weren’t dining off low-margins games, and the mood at the training ground was spoiled by dickheads we eventually shipped out.
This season feels a little bit different.
We’ve had an absolutely horrendous dip and it appears we’ve moved on from it. Unbeaten in 7 games.
The football has been up and down but there are some consistent threads.
Generally, we’ve started well this season. It’s been high impact from the off. We were good against Chelsea for the opening 20. We asked questions of City until we collapsed. Every game we’ve started with a rocket up our backsides.
We’re creating chances now. We’re 5th in the table for shots per game. 14.6 so far. That’s including our disastrous Chelsea and City games. To contextualise the progress, last season we were averaging 12.1 shots p/g which had us in 11th. The season before 10.7, which had us in 15th. Our current clip of shots would have us equal with Chelsea for the whole of last season. So it’s good progress and chunky progress. If you are asking whether this new team can create with that data, you aren’t paying attention.
We still need to score more goals. Chelsea had a lower shot output against Norwich than we did… but they scored 7 goals without a striker. We need to find a more clinical edge. Goals can’t just be on the shoulders of Auba and Lacazette. We need Saka, Partey, ESR and our full-backs to chip in.
Defensively, there’s still some work to do. We’re giving up a lot of shots over the average of all our games. Part of that has been driven by our bad start, part of that is we haven’t shown a consistent ability to control games. We let Palace and Brighton have at us because we didn’t have the bravery to play through them. We also have a LOT of new players in our team, so it’ll take time to find our feet there. The first half against Villa was our best outing defensively. We hoovered up first and second balls. We attacked their outlets. We pressed with smarts. We used off the ball movement really well. That’s the standard, we have to do it more often.
The biggest improvement since the break is basically having one absolute banger of a performance. The Goldilocks football was going to grate fans if it didn’t improve. The club needed to show that all this new specificity we signed in the summer was going to amount to some sexy football. We saw a half of it against Spurs, then we saw 80% of a banger against Villa.
James over at The Athletic crystalised where are quite nicely.
Fans are waiting for the football to bang. Like it’ll be one moment and we’ll never look back. That’s not going to happen, it’ll be a slow fizz into consistency. Matt from the podcast teed it up nicely. At the moment, we’re 1 good performance in 3. Next move is 1 good performance every 2 games. Then we try to move to the Chelsea, City, Liverpool levels of hitting high standards in every game.
Not having to deal with Europe should help us get there faster.
I do find it odd that people come on here after a win and accuse me of crowing. We’re all Arsenal fans, if you don’t feel a win is yours as well as mine, what are you doing? I’m just an opinion, why would you battle me to the detriment of your support for the club?
I’ve said the same things all season… this will be up and down. Palace isn’t the last bad performance. Villa won’t be the last big performance. What people need to do is to move away from catastrophising every mistake or result that doesn’t go our way. It’s not helpful to anyone.
We have the ingredients for a good season:
1. The 6 players we signed this summer are all getting rave reviews for talent, specificity, and character
2. The football is getting better slowly but surely
3. Arteta is learning from mistakes. Someone accused him of tinkering yesterday like that was an insult. If you watched Brighton and Palace and didn’t appreciate the manager had to tinker with the system, then I can’t help you. Football isn’t a simple game in 2021, it’s a science.
4. Our big names are showing up for the club. Auba is BACK. 7 goals in 9 this season. Lacazette was a difference-maker yesterday. Gabriel is showing that he has no ceiling. Thomas Partey is FIT and apparently firing. If the seniors aren’t good this season, we’ll fail. I love that they are stepping up to the plate.
5. The fans in the stadium are creating the best atmosphere in YEARS. You love to hear it. It sounds like fun. Long may that support continue. It’s special.
Something that isn’t so cool…
There’s a bit of a thing going on in the Arsenal community where fans are starting to go after people they deem as for-profit catastrophisers. The trend is to spot a ‘personality’ that makes content, then video yourself doing something classless to them. There’s a horrible video of Ty, who I don’t know, being abused by fans who won’t let him exit the building.
I know that certain creators rile people. That guy that screams in his car is not my favourite, but it’s his right to scream in the car, it’s others right to enjoy his car shrieking activities, and if by chance his screaming earns him enough to buy a new car, good for him… I salute that he found a market.
No one speaks for you online. If you think AFTV embarrasses the club, fine… but I tell you what is more embarrassing. Boxing a man into the stadium so he can’t get out when he’s on his own. That’s cowardly. That makes Arsenal fans look bad. We can’t be applauding that. I hope we move on from it.
Finally, there’s a story doing the rounds that we’re going to sell Dino and Matteo for £11m. How do deals like that happen? What have we done to protect ourselves against Marseille and Stuttgart flipping those players like Atalanta flipped Romero? Why would you tie two high ceiling players to a shit fee? We are awful at selling, but these two deals just stink to me. I don’t want Matteo back, but I also don’t want him floating away for nothing when he’s getting called up the French national team.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments.
Hello
Again
My
Tr4phy
Sweet!
lmao!! Christian trying to get himself sent off so he doesn’t have to endure any more embarrassment on home turf.
decent weekend
Lol Unitrd getting batter hope it’s 8
LMFAO Hope Liverpool score another 4 in the second half. There is is a red card there for United also 😀
Fucking Ole doing his best to get sacked. We need him to stay at united 🤣🤣
pogba pulled off what Christiano couldn’t lmao😂😂
This is how Pogba pays back to being benched.
Seen on twitter…. anybody taking Mcguire over Gabriel or Ben White?. Overrated trash. Not even just based on today.
Salah is absolute world class. What a player we’re witnessing.
No problem crowing after a win, but the next two away games will give us an idea of the progress.
Good post Pedro
Here’s hoping we can ‘bang’ against Manu when we meet
You are taking T’s post out of context though
Fans are team centric and all I’m sure want to see us excel
Arteta’s tenure has been painful to say the least
He bears huge/ major responsibility for that I’m sure you agree. There are some very tender green shoots and we can maintain an intelligent, courageous Villa approach it will unify the fan base
Crowing refers to you arteta centric mantra and triumphalism
OGS, a very smart manager, in the gutter.
I love the dejection slapped across their faces.
Leicester look like they are coming into form just in time for the Arsenal game. Going to be a tough visit but we should go in confident, just hope Arteta keeps the same team. West Ham looking like they are probably going to be our other main rival for top 6 unless they burn out trying for the Europa, which Leicester could also do with luck.
Damn Liverpool took their foot off the gas, it could easily be 8 or 9 goals.
Foxy, Leicester were shite against Brentford.
I think its taking a while for the club to adjust to our midtable position and its taking fans longer. I agree there will be ups and downs. The real project is how to hang onto our young players. The smart move is make any move almost impossible. Dont for one moment think they are totally committed to the project .Money talks. Give them long contracts and huge wages. It’s a risk but not as much of a risk as leaving them vulnerable to being picked off by other bigger clubs
Salah is the best in the world right now surely. Liverpool have a great chance to win any game they play if he is in the team, reminds me a bit of how Henry was for us in his pomp.
The players faces in the dugout. So bad.
Who are they going to hire? Conte?
The top three positions in the EPL are frankly out of reach and Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City are a class above the rest of the League.
However, I see absolutely no reason why we cannot compete for 4-5th places in the League.
Man Utd may have on paper a better and more experienced squad than us but on the evidence of this week’s performance they are a very weak and poor team. We have absolutely nothing to fear there.
was just thinking the same thing, conte makes the most sense but will also be the wrong choice. happy days lol
manure
‘He bears huge/ major responsibility for that I’m sure you agree’
Ahhh… not really sure he bears responsibility for the shocking way the club has been run for over a decade.
I always want United to bomb. But I wanted their misery under OLE to continue. A bit more respectable loss would have been better. This will get him sacked for sure. He has been hanging on for his life the past couple of months. I think they will go for conte. Which will basically mean top 4 will be sealed off for us for this season. United have a really good squad. They are just waiting for the right manager. I guess we will have to settle for 5th if arteta can even do that.
I cannot believe what I just watched… that was a TOTAL destruction.
How can so much elite talent be so fucking bad?
Pedro
The coach. I am sure ours is as bad as them. If you have klopp the opposite players, he would still come out on top. There is a real manager for you.
Gave*
Pogba is todays Xhaka
Sure thing habeesha
Any coach who makes Henderson, Milner etc look elite has my vote
Looks like OT were applauding him on his way out
He bears huge/ major responsibility for that I’m sure you agree’Ahhh… not really sure he bears responsibility for the shocking way the club has been run for over a decade.
🤣🤣 can’t fault your unbridled support for tets Pedro
Pedro
Not sure it’s a new story about Dino and Matteo.
Matteo’s was reported as an option to buy but he has probably already hit the required clauses to turn that option into an obligation. Including this years loan fee it will result in a 10m transfer fee.
Dino’s is even lower. It’s an obligation to buy that will result in a 3-3.5m transfer fee including this year’s loan fee.
So we’re looking at somewhere in the region of 13.5m for both of them.
Sly
There are few managers that can reach Klopp’s or Pep’s level. I don’t even think Conte can beat them over a full season. That is why I want us to fire arteta. You can’t be gambling on a rookie that hasn’t figured it out yet against these sort of managers. We will be left behind. I really want ten hag. I think he has the potential to compete with these two.
I hope we have a minimum of 20% sell on fee considering these clubs got Matteo and Dinos for ridiculous prices.
Damn, I expected it to be a one sided game but honestly, that was just fucking brutal. Liverpool could have made it 10 if they wanted to.
I’m not wanting to pin this all on Ronaldo but I did say on here manure will be worse off with him but he’ll bang in goals for fun.
You either know football or you don’t.
Gary Neville adamant that United board won’t sack OGS until the end of the season, whatever happens….
Yeah I said the same. Ronaldo is not like Messi who raises the game of the entire team with his all round play and that’s why I never put him in the same category as Messi. OGS was doing a decent job until he was pressurised by United fans and their hierarchy to go for Ronaldo. Chiellini and Bonnucci referred to the same problem at Juventus when CR7 was there. Not entirely Ronaldo’s fault as RR says but CR7 signing was going to weaken United and it truly has.
“I think they will go for conte. Which will basically mean top 4 will be sealed off for us for this season.”
Were people not saying top 4 was sealed off when United signed CR7 ? Conte is a top top manager but in football things don’t work out like that – get a certain manager or player and everything is sorted straight away. That said I really wish Conte doesn’t take over at United.
“CR7 signing was going to weaken United and it truly has.”
Not sure I can agree with this. Give him a decent system under a good manager, he will surely fire. Let’s see what happens if United change managers.
I agree Habesha
I think the potential upside with keeping arteta is very small compared to the potential downside
I really can’t see him taking this club anywhere
Ten Hag is a great shout and very doable imo
Managers like pep/Klopp keep evolving and folks like arteta read their old manuals and perpetually flop
Question though is if managers like Tom Franck and potter can produce collective performances from mediocre players why are we hanging onto an OGS lite level coach
Utterly mindless
Is Ramsey still at Juve? Only seems to play for Wales these days.
“I really can’t see him taking this club anywhere”
Even Gunnerblog backs Arteta now. Do you think you know better than both Gunnerblog and Pedro?
Crazy times for united. A squad as good as theirs is suppose to be challenging for the premiership.
However I think it’s very laughable to pin united woes on Ronaldo as this united team has lacked identity under OGS. For most of OGS tenure united have been a counter attacking team which in my opinion Ronaldo is the perfect player to get you goals in their system..
Still shocked OGS haven’t bought a Good CDM as I felt that was the only position lacking from last season.
Tough choice on what to watch.
Inter v Juve or Marseille v PSG?
Marseille always good to watch for their rabid fans 😂
I don’t think Ronaldo has weakened United. I’m not a fan of his but have to say I’ve been impressed by his professionalism and approach to his game as he’s gotten older. United’s problem has always been the manager. Going behind in games against lesser quality opponents on the regular and throwing more talented players on to rescue the game while the other team hunkers down to protect what they have, is not a sustainable strategy against very good teams. United have led for just over a 117 minutes in games this PL season. Less than Burnley. Ole is as… Read more »
shame about the liverpool result. No way Ole survives surely?
Gooner_g
I would absolutely love to be proven wrong and would savor that humble pie
Gunnerblog sits firmly on the fence
Ole managed Molde and sacked by Cardiff.
They have a lot of very good players but a jigsaw he can’t put together.
Moyes wasn’t given enough time at Utd after Ferguson,, Ole still believing he will turn it around his luck has run out.
Sly
Nice answer. I don’t have anything to say.
We were very good friday night, ESR on the half turn is a great sight to see, Ramsdale I will admit so far he is proving me wrong, vocal, distribution once again very good off hand and feet.
Made a very important save early 2nd half with his legs.
It’s as I said the other day, to come top 4 we don’t have to be amazing if the teams around us aren’t. This Spurs team is the worst it’s been for several years. We have a better squad than them and their manager is poor too. No excuse for finishing below them. Man Utd have a good squad but are having an awful season so far. They will have to turn the corner in a big way to be a team worth fearing. Unless they change manager I don’t see it happening but could be wrong. Leicester and the… Read more »
Was there any actual point in buying Sancho?
Am I the only one thinking that United was lucky not to have 3 red cards before Pogba was sent off? I am sure that Xhaka would have received red card for kicking Jones after the whistle was blown same if he would have copied Fernandes, who was with two feet off the ground when he got his yellow and I think that Maguire was the last man when he got his yellow.. Amazing how this MU teams get away with things we would never get away with. Great to see them lose like this though
Liverpool are really something this season
salah is out of this world good.
Konate looks like a great buy as well. Just what they needed after being ravaged with CB injuries last year
Outside the big three, the 4th spot is very open for a lot of teams…..yes including us as it stands 1/4 season in.
Leicester away be a good barometer,
Leeds Tuesday I would still go with a very strong team 3/4 changes from Friday maximum.
We have no European football, Martinelli, Pepe start rotate one CB and a FB.
Leeds have injury concerns and the bigger picture for them PL points,
Was there any actual point in buying Sancho?
….
Do you one better. Any point buying Donny Van De beek??
Amazing scenes at MU.
EVEN THE DISABLED SECTION OF THE CROWD
GOT UP AND WALKED OUT..
Come on Hamilton!!
Saliba just last ditch tackled Mbappe to save the game.
Sly I completely agree. I don’t like hoping that a manager will come good when the evidence so far has been contrary. I see Ten Hag producing the kind of football that we played under peak Wenger. Even if we don’t get results, which no one is entitled to get, we would enjoy the football. I really hope I am wrong about Arteta and we succeed in to the kind of team that we could enjoy. But my eyes tell me otherwise. I am in to evidence than trying to find microscopic hope based theories. Anyway. Saliba making a goal… Read more »
Mbappe had a few yard head start too
China Sancho is finding it difficult against premier league defenders. The premier league is a different beast. Rarely does a 21 year old from another league make instantaneous impact. Wengereagle was convinced he would bang as soon as he stepped on to the pitch though. He will find it difficult in the future too because he doesn’t defend a lot. He isn’t blessed with electric speed either. He is very good technically though and he is very intelligent. He will be part of a good team at United in the future. But he won’t be the superstar they expected him… Read more »
Damn Saliba just bossed Danilo off the ball too on another transition where everyone from OM were forward
I’m very happy we’re taking more shots. The low margins dross we were being served was sucking all joy out of watching football. In the next 4-5 games I’m hoping to see the right players taking more of the shots. The shooting stats are a bit deceiving. Partey needs to stop blasting from distance. Even Sambi seems to be emulating him lately. The positive interpretation is that we’re at least getting into shooting positions. But we’ll only convert more once Saka and ESR start firing.
and a clean sheet up against Messi Mbappe Neymar
United is a dumpster fire atm. I can see them dumping Ole and bringing in Conte. But he won’t have an immediate impact. You can’t play Italian-style football with dross like Maguire, Lindelof and Wan-Bissaka. Conte will need a new back 4 that has brains and discipline. So I still think we should have a decent shot at top 4 this season if Arteta can produce some consistency.
I hope he is given a chance next season. Our CB options would look very good with Saliba added to White and Gabriel.
If we can replicate the villa performance we will beat Leicester and watford
“Amazing scenes at MU.
EVEN THE DISABLED SECTION OF THE CROWD
GOT UP AND WALKED OUT..”
Classic comment , that did make me laugh out loud.
Guendouzi is no longer a headless chicken on a football pitch.
He has a great understanding and awareness of the game and positionally is very good.
He keeps it nice and simple if the game is tight, but when it opens up is prepared to carry the ball into the opposition half…he is a leader on the pitch..
It is criminal to think that Arteta prefers xhaka to Guendouzi and that we are basically giving him away…
Xhaka for now is far better than guen but ok
The collapse of Manure will open up the forth spot. It will be a fight between West Ham United, Manure, Leicester City, Spuds and Arsenal. I expect BHA and Everton will drop out. It is going to go down to the wire. We don’t have European commitment. If we could add another good CM in January, I could see that we have a good chance to win it.
Manchester United is banter f c 🙂
Who would have thought that losing Raphaël Varane really hurt Manure’s defense. But Ole will play Maguire anyway. He can’t defend in his current form.
Raul, how many good performances has Xhaka put in this season? Two?
Or are we back to pretending the first 3 performances of the season didn’t happen and we only remember when xhaka has an occasional good game?
hope odegaard is watching figo videos. if he bulked up i could see him being able to do a lot more trickery at that level. he also just needs a consistent run of games, yea he was here last season but his gmae time was up and down. i expect he’s one that will surprise us all in a year or two. trying to think of another player who bulked up a bit and then was able to really take his game up a real level… anyway, the kid is class just needs more settling, he hasn’t had the easiest… Read more »
I hope Oke doesn’t get fired. As long as he keeps having these false dawn rebirths he gets to hang in there.
Probably the best thing that can happen is for them to be good and win their next game. Maybe even the next two. That would take the sting out of the pressure on him. Then a couple of bad results in a row and he’s back in the firing line.
Better that than him being sacked today or losing the next game and getting sacked and them potentially getting a new manager bounce
Ole
Massive performance by Saliba against PSG tonight. Man of the match. Not only does have talent, he has the presence. Marseille is a difficult club to play for. In terms of atmosphere, crazy supporters and coverage, only big Serie A clubs, Real/Barça, Benfica/Porto, Turkish big clubs match it. Think it is way more difficult for a young player to perform in those environments. Way more difficult than the Utd/Liverpool PL pundits hype up. Those clubs are unforgiving. Lokonga has struggled so far imo. I think it is more do with his talent than a young player adjusting. Don’t think he… Read more »
What a weekend. We won, spurs lost and OGS got a thrashing.
Sweet, sweet, wine peeps
“Even Gunnerblog backs Arteta now. Do you think you know better than both Gunnerblog and Pedro?”
7am do not back Arteta.
Neither do I. Me want my victories and entertainment to go with it. Wenger has conditioned me to caviar football.
7am, lol
“Lokonga has struggled so far imo. I think it is more do with his talent than a young player adjusting. Don’t think he is cut for out for this level. Seems like a good kid though. Wish him the best.”
we got a spud troll
Pierre, like Mesut, Matteo is a toxic character. Doesn’t matter how talented he is… he soiled himself at Arsenal and will likely do the same at Marseille.
“How can so much elite talent be so fucking bad?” If you need to ask that question Pedro, then you really need help. Simple, it’s the manager, as it’s been for us over the last 24 months. Now Arteta says the ‘Bang’ is coming , so I hope it’s a sonic boom and not a soggy banger that fails to make any sound except ‘phuttt’ on a wet 5th of November. Excellent day for us yesterday. The Leicester game vs Brentford was as tight as games get. Both teams deserved the win; a great game for the neutrals. Then 5:0… Read more »
Lokonga has struggle?
My word, a wet cabbage or a take there
Tony, the problem of the last 24 months has been that fans have failed the grasp the gravity of the job.
OGS is regressing with a hugely expensive squad. No plan, structure or vision… we are progressing across the metrics listed in the blog, with a plan, vision and structure.
The fans (most of them) have understood the gravity of the job and was why we wanted a manager with experience. Let’s see how Newcastle do with experience and how quickly they can climb the tables over this and next season. If Newcastle are at the same stage as us at the end of their 2nd season, then there is a tangible gauge that will confirm what you say. I’ve no idea how it will pan out with the Magpies, but it’ll be interesting how they develop as a club and on the pitch. All I know for now is… Read more »
‘Let’s see how the richest club in the world do with their new manager’ isn’t really a fair gauge of whether the path is correct with Arsenal.
How was Ronaldo not sent off , fucking prick , kicked Curtis Jones when he was down . UTD got lucky again.
I will blame Klopp if man u finish above us, fucker had to beat man u 5-0 and get OGS fired when 2-0 was enough to get the job and let OGS keep his job.
Toxic Guen and inexperienced Saliba any day over kumbaya boys that cant achieve European football.
Guen was never a headless chicken, he was just trying to cover the gaps left be players like Ozil, Bell, Auba and Kola across the field
Good post Pedro , This team needs a big win ( and I dont mean by margins) for the confidence boost . Leicester on Saturday would do just fine .
“Tony, the problem of the last 24 months has been that fans have failed the grasp the gravity of the job.“
24 months?
Remind us , Pedro, who was it that said after the Pepe Saliba window that top three was on the menu?
Talk about failure of grasping realit.
reality