Manchester United vs Arsenal goes down as the most frustrating game of the season. We lost. We shouldn’t have. That was a very hard dropped 3 points.
There are some pretty clear areas we need to improve in over the next 2 months if we want a realistic chance of winning things, and the first I want to talk about is confidence.
Arsenal controlled the opening phase of the game, we went a goal up (hilarious goal), then we replicated the familiar pattern of trying to see out a lead like it was the 88th minute. This is a confidence thing. It’s about the experience we lack at the moment. It is a problem because we let teams back into games when we shouldn’t. We’ve even played like this when we’ve won (Spurs / Leicester), the pattern is the same… we don’t know how to lead in games.
The next difficult topic we have to address is that once again, we’re in December, and it’s the senior players letting us down. Last year it was Willian and Luiz, this year it’s Partey and Auba. When I saw Big Mo on the teamsheet, I didn’t think he’d be bossing TP. But he did. The Ghanaian was at his imperious worst. His control was poor, he was giving the ball away for fun, and he just didn’t impose himself on the game. You can’t have that from your £45m centre midfielder. We’re getting to the point now that when Xhaka is back, it’ll be Lokonga partnering him.
Then there was Auba. Is he trying? Yes. Is he game for the cause? Yes. But he can’t player the Arteta system. He’s built for a counter-attacking side and that is not Arsenal. We need a brute. We need someone that can run the line, bully defenders, actually hold the ball up… finish. Our captain can’t do any of those things at the moment and it’s killing us. If Lacazette isn’t there, it’s like playing with 10 men. He was so anonymous.
Arteta gets rolled into this problem. He gave Auba a huge deal. Let’s be clear, there wasn’t another option. ‘I SAID SELL HIM’ doesn’t really wash, because if we had done that at the time, it would have been carnage. However, Arteta is now dealing with the burden of that decision. His richest player is also his captain… and our coach is shying away from benching him. In fact, he’s shying away from taking him off when he’s killing our game. If he’d removed him on 55 when he should have, maybe the game ends differently. The players don’t trust him with long balls into feet. They know he won’t keep hold of it. We spent 150m on defensive specialists that could hit a striker from 70 yards, now our issue is that the striker can’t hold onto it. The Odegaard penalty doesn’t happen if you have Lukaku upfront.
The last issue is errors. They’ve crept back into our game. All of those goals were avoidable. Ben White gifting United possession for the opener. Tavares and ESR having a total fail for the second. Odegaard with a wild slide tackle on Fred for the 3rd. It’s not acceptable to be doing that at Old Trafford.
All three of those goals were out of character for the squad. The sloppy passing with the most painful to digest because we’re too good for that. Part of the panic came from not killing the game off when United were looking extremely lethargic. We don’t have a kill mode at the moment. Part of that comes from not having a sharp point to our spear, part of that is that this team hasn’t had a lot of experiences together.
A few people were complaining about Mo Elneny starting. I’m with you, I don’t like to see him in the starting 11, but I suspect Lokonga had a tight muscle, so they didn’t risk him. Bit of a shame that AMN doesn’t have the trust yet… but let’s be real, he played well, he was the least of our worries.
We deserved to lose because we gifted a shite United the game for very little. The game was so weird. It was like a training match after 3 nights on the lash.
However, I have come out of that game pretty clear that we’re a much better team. United fans know this as well. We have better structure, our football identity is clearer, and the attitude is there. We just need to grow up a bit faster.
There were some good performances as well. Martin Odegaard is getting better with every game. He made a stupid error for the penalty, but that goal was stunning. He’s going to be good for us, I hope he gets more time on Monday to show his worth. There were a couple of United fans in my Twitch stream saying they were happy when he was subbed off.
Martinelli has his sparkle back. He’s powerful, creative, and he will impose himself on defenders. He was very naive not to pass when he was through on goal in the first half, a goal there kills the game, but he’ll make a better decision the next time. He should start the next game.
There were some good periods of dominance in the game. We controlled United and played some nice football when we had the bravery to do it. Problem is, we didn’t do it with enough intensity when the opportunity was there. Our game jolted back when we were chasing. That needs to get better.
So a painful loss. Some obvious areas of improvement. A chance to show what we’re worth on Monday against a very poor Everton side.
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https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-salah-finished-too-high-ballon-dor-rankings
This is a fair article regarding Salah and Ballon’dor….
Hate to say it but come on Chelski.
Dissenter
Pepe down the middle would be interesting, it’s not like he could do much worse than Aubameyang currently is
Pepe would offer more goals than Saka, but Saka is statistically superior in every other metric, the goals will come for Saka, I’m not worried about him, he’s class
We’re going to need our squad over the next 2 months, it’s the most hectic period of the season, then once we’re back into February, we’ll be at a game a week again
Tuchel has improved Chelsea so much in a year it’s amazing
It would be unfortunate for Morroco to win AFCON, they consider themselves the republic of South Europe.
Rich
I agree that Saka is the better prospect, when compared with Pepe
My point was that even Saka has to be pushed by real competition which can be provided by Pepe.
Spanish Dave, There are still some good managers out there that have a good track record with developing young players. The top two that come to mind are ten Hag and Galtier. Both Champions League qualifiers and league winners with young squads. Then there is Matarazzo of Leverkusen and Jaissle of Salzburg who are not as experienced as the other two but are very youth driven. Mikel Arteta has a habit of bringing in U21 squad players as a last resort (especially during injury) and then playing them until they are gassed. Saka – Replacement for injured Tierney ESR –… Read more »
Love how Declan Rice doesn’t look phased when being pressed or look for the safest possible pass.
He’s really grown as a player
That was a disaster class by Chelsea! 1-1
Iat Robbie
Thanks for the info.
Ten would be great but he seems rooted in Holland. Maybe if Dennis joined in it would be a dream team.
Arteta was strange putting Saka almost any position rather than right wing.
He is poor with giving game time to the young players
Patina should have some minutes.
West Ham are the best the rest thus season and they’ve coped quite well with the Europa league
They give these big teams problems to solve, even if they end up losing.
Watching how Chelsea plays away at West Ham. They control the game like they were playing at home. Some of our players are so timid playing away. We still need to mature a lot.
The two players keeping their form are Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Martinelli. Elneny ran a lot. But his capability is limited.
Graham62
Astonishing! The exact opposite of what you say makes sense. Is this deliberate?
I’ve always thought that the proper footballing work Chelsea have done in the past 18 years was obscured by the sheer amount of money they’ve spent.
Their starting 11 today has four academy products; Mason Mount, Christianson, Reece James and Loftus-Cheek.
Great goal 2-2
Imagine cheslea having Werner and Lukaku upfront
That is pure pinball football 😂😂😂
West ham really are organised and have some good players rice and Antonio would walk Into our team
englandsbest
What do you think?
“Happy with the loss”
You may be in the minority on that one Zacharse, even with your qualifier. How anyone can be happy with losing to an absolute shit ManU team that was there for the taking?
Mendy overrated. Very good, but not as good as Rambo. It’s just that Kepa was so, so bad, anyone would look great in comparison.
He is good enough to win the champions league and the premier, unfortunately.
Just remember these patches when our great keeper makes a mistake.
Alison went through a very bad stretch last season.
None of those guys distribute as well as our guy. Ederson and Aaron in that regard only.
How anyone would be happy when we lose is beyond me
How can you profess to be a supporter and want us to lose ?
We did not need this but west ham did well in this game Chelsea got smacked
West Ham never look inferior against the big teams. Proper mentality to have
Mendy has had a nightmare game
Goodness me
Amazing performance by West Ham. Bad for us but hats off.
Bowen has half the talent of Auba but 100% more effective
West ham winning a game Pep lite could never engineer. Every player putting in a proper shift. Never intimidated or look beaten. Mikel Antonio making defenders work non stop. How cant we get a similar shift from our 300kpw striker
Graham62
I think yes.
Consider these two quotes: ‘Arteta’s man-management skills are appalling’ and ‘ So many players are being poorly treated’
Either incredibly poor judgement or a deliberate wind-up – take your pick
Simply put, West Ham is very much a team that no one wants to face.
Gazza
“Bowen has half the talent of Auba but 100% more effective”
Bowen has a bit of Smith Rowe about him , good first touch, a nice burst of speed, keeps the ball tight to his feet when dribbling and plays the give and go …
The chelsea result is exactly the reason why no team in the top 8 should write off their title chances . .so much can happen in the next few weeks.
Yes of course the big 3 are favourites but it only needs one team to put together a 5 or 6 game winning run and they will be in thw mix
Look at tottenham, if they were to win their 2 games in hand over chelsea they are just 5 points behind them ..
Everton on Monday is a must win. We could be 8th by then.
David Moyes took a club from relegation to Champions League contenders with half the budget of Arsenal’s this summer transfer window. Has beaten Chelsea , City , Liverpool and Utd this season itself. No excuses .
West Ham beating Liverpool and Chelsea at home. Giving good teams a game.
*this year
Pierre
Jarrod Bowen is my favorite player to watch this season , only next to Raphina .
‘’ What happened to Pepe?
Why is Nkettiah getting minutes ahead of him, even after repeatedly refusing extensions?
That’s atrocious decision making from Arteta.‘’
It’s actually very good decision making, Arteta has given Pepe chances and he hasn’t taken them
G
Regarding Pepe
‘People It’s actually very good decision making, Arteta has given Pepe chances and he hasn’t taken them’
That’s bollocks
So Arteta froze out Pepe and we aren’t doing any better. Three of Auba’s goals came off Pepe’s work, as erratic as he’s been.
You would have a better case to make against Pepe if our goal scoring we improved after he was banished. It hasn’t improved.
Matt B “Don’t understand why so many on here want guarantees about league position. It’s a bit odd.” No it’s not odd. We have a manager that hasn’t broken into the top six yet by the seasons end and we have put out more than enough expenditure at the start of this season. How many free passes do you want to keep giving Arteta? He has to be held responsible at some stage. We can’t just keep floating on out of the top six. And the discussion wasn’t about guarantess of a top four finish. It was top six. Are… Read more »
West Ham and Moyes showing Arteta how it should be done.
Don’t be scared, don’t be intimidated.
WHU are a physically intimidating team, with some excellent players.
That’s two 3-2 wins against Liverpool and Chelski and a narrow 2-1 loss at the Etihad. Why can they do it and we can’t.
Oh yeah, I forgot, we’re “young and inexperienced”
.
They have to order Adama Traore to rub that baby oil Everywhere on his body, not just his upper extremity.
Seems like hearing ti make yourself more difficult to grapple in a sport that’s supposed to be contact-based.
englandsbest
So you’re saying Arteta’s man-management skills are good and you don’t think a number of players have been poorly treated?
Are you sure you’re not watching the Argentina Primera?
You know, that other Arsenal FC.( Arsenal Sarandi FC)
Graham62. Also dont forget. “We are at the beginning of a process”. 3 seasons in
Dissenter You are judging Pepe just individually and even in that aspect he can be flaky. If Pepe isn’t buying into the overall team play that Arteta wants he will continually be sidelined. The same happened with Ozil. Most managers want their players gelled into an overall team system. Any player that doesn’t want to comply with this or hasn’t got the aptitude for this will find their starting place in jeopardy. Pepe may come back in at some point before the seasons end and be helpful who knows but I saw a mile off a long time ago that… Read more »
Graham62
West Ham don’t give out exorbitant wages so it’s easier to move out players that don’t fit.
That’s why it was so easy to sell Haler,even at a loss.
We are kings of over-paying players, even when their suitability is doubtful.
How the f** k is that c** t Mike Dean in charge for Monday.? The c** t is from the Wirral!. I swear that b’tard Mike Riley is doing his utmost to f** k us over.It’s criminal.
Can’t keep blaming our youngsters. Our central midfield against United were both hugely experienced and long established internationals…….and were the worst players on the pitch (along with the equally experienced PEA)!! Age is not important, ability and desire are. Watch a team like West Ham play and then watch our pussies, there’s been a mentality problem at Arsenal for over 10 years, it’s better than it was but there is still a big problem.
Ishola
Those are outlandish comments about Pepe tbh.
There’s no evidence to suggest that he’s not a ‘team player’ or doesn’t buy into team play. He’s not so bad that he can’t be given minutes to help the team.
Are we better off with him sidelined totally?
Ae we better off with Arteta subbing in Nkettiah ahead of Pepe, even when the former has indicated that he wants out?
Pepe was sub par and dismal…yet he scored 10 goals last season.
Dissenter
Please don’t tell me that’s another excuse.
Just imagine Arteta doing what Moyes doing at Westham, what would Pedro do????.
Or if one suggested Moyes instead of his beloved Arteta 3 years ago???. He would be running a month blog insulting Moyes.
Moyes and Arteta hired at the same time with Westham in worse position. And I don’t rate donkey Moyes.
Watch Spud and ManU preform now as they hire proper top class manager while Pedro and people like him tells you we’re improving.
The hammers have been fantastic
A manager who knows what he is doing
Well drilled and very organised team
Strong and mean midfield
Talented playmakers
A monster of striker
Motivated and effective new recruits
On the other hand,
We wasted too much money on the likes of Pepe ,Partey, Mari, Soaris, White kept in and rewarded underachieving players and got rid or froze out potential talents.
If Mikel Arteta was called Micky Ardley, he would be ridiculed by those same folk who see Arteta as being elite.
Bruno Lage is playing with a squad that he inherited and playing well against Liverpool.
David Moyes has worked wonders at WH.
Credit is deserved.
Divine
I know but, remember, Wolves aren’t Arsenal.
That would be excuse number 365 in the Pedro book of excuses.
Dissenter
“Those are outlandish comments about Pepe tbh.”
Only outlandish to fans of Pepe which you obviously are.
Ruben Neves would have been a better option than Odegaard.
Ishola
All I’ve argued for is that out Pepe in a position to still help the team, even if means coming off the bench
Right now he’s completely frozen out
How does that make me a fan of Pepe.
Pepe is one of the few players in our said that can create his own chances and that’s important in a squad with pathetic chance creation
Oh shit, things have just gotten a lot more difficult. West Ham with David M. just laid down a marker for contending for 4th place. Rangnick at Man Utd. is under extreme pressure, top 4 for him is a must anything else is a failure for him. So where does that leave AFC? Looks to me one more season without UCL under the saucy one.
Just saw the stat that Odegaard made ZERO passes to Auba at Old Trafford
That’s damning.
The manager needs to call both of them for a meeting. There must be some beef, maybe ode is upset about that goal Auba took away from him by toiching it from an offside position
That’s probably due to tactical instructions as the idea is to play the ball wide to full backs to create an overload. Passing thru the lines is not permitted.
Based on how many here are throwing so much adulation to Moyes overall performance at Westham since he returned there for his second stint can we say Manutd were impatient with the Chosen one?
Again overall, you could see the case for keeping Saliba since we already had Holding and Mari and Gabriel and no European football and using that Ben White outlay to work on strengthening our attack.
Also why maybe some would have preferred a Madison type rather than an ultra safe Odegaard.
We’re so lightweight in midfield in terms of creativity, our strikers basically have anything created for them and asides Smith Rowe and Saka who both play from the wings, there’s absolutely nothing doing in midfield.
Now it is wolves, please keep the same energy with the Assessment of Brighton , Crystal Palace coaches despite their recent results.
Man that is so heartbreaking for Wolves.
What a day of brilliant footie
Origi is a Liverpool legend, no doubt
I mean yea I like the profile of players we’ve bought and their age e.t.c. but you’ve got to seriously mix that up with serious talent. Look at the gap between 4th and 8th, you stand the chance of getting stuck in mid table hell if you don’t plan to compete. I do hope we focus on our attacking positions in subsequent transfers and that Arteta finds a way to get more out of our play in an attacking sense. Also, it’s a wide open league this season in terms of champions League places and we should be right up… Read more »
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Batistuta
Fair enough, it would have been nice to have atleast one established attacking midfielder that will help with more chance creations. Indeed Arsenal have to give opponents more problems to solve. At the moment it is still very low.
At some stage when Saka came onto the scene he played in AMF like an 8. Same with ESR. Any thoughts on this?
Rice is another overrated English player. Yes he’s good enough for our midfield… but he’s not as great as English media want him to be. Yes, Better than Xhaka and El Neny. Congrats Declan. That mediocre midfield for England, along with also overrated Harry kills their chances every time. The rest of that team deserves much more credit. For Fornals, Bowen, Soucek obviously. They are running through fire and walls for Moyes. It’s tiring just to watch them play. If only United had backed him, even a little bit. He inherited such an old side who had nothing left in… Read more »