The post-match reaction from Gooners seems to be pretty unified: A frustrating game we threw away.
Mike McDonald had the most incisive piece of analysis: The team that made the most mistakes lost.
The goals we conceded were all unforced errors.
- Ben White with a shocking clearance
- Nuno and ESR making a mess of a 10-yard pass
- Odegaard sliding in on Fred in the penalty area
Mistakes kill momentum, they kill confidence, and they fu*k up your position in the table. Our players need to learn from them and they need to make sure they don’t become part of the package like they were last season.
The biggest issue we have this season outside the striker problem is how poor we’ve been once we’ve taken a lead. Our comfort blanket is to sit deep. Our players have very little confidence or know-how when it comes to going a goal up. That’s an experience thing and we’ll get better at it. It’ll click at some point, it takes a collective boldness to make it happen, but with good players, it comes.
The usual suspect think this is part of the game plan, but they’re wrong. The players say that Arteta wants us to push forward, the manager says he demands the team pushes forward, and you can see him waving his arms frantically on the touchline encouraging the players to get forward. Sitting deep and ceding possession is not part of our approach, it’s a bug in the system we need to code out.
So how do we start to manage games a bit better? Our experienced players need to step up for starters. We have the youngest team in the league, they have limited feel for each other, they need support. At the moment, would you say that Partey is stepping up? He’s been our least impressive midfielder this season. Lokonga has outshone him. Elneny outshone him. Let’s be honest here, who would you rather see as our starting midfield pairing when everyone is fit? Probably Xhaka and Sambi as things stand. Partey needs to find his best form and fast.
I will say, a lot of people were wondering why Sambi was dropped for United, I suspect there must have been something in his data pointing towards the potential of an injury. No way Mo is rolled out for his first game against United if Sambi is fit.
Back to it…
We need to see the players take a little bit more ownership of controlling games. We know they are all good enough to play a high line. The players are much more impressive when they are chasing a goal or level. They need to bottle that. This team is 10 games old, logic would suggest that they are going to improve as the season rolls on. The danger Arteta has to manage for? December is a tight month. There’s not a lot of time on the training pitch. If we don’t beat Everton, we’re in a bit of a mess when we need it the least.
The other issue the players will be watching for is the Auba problem. Is he above being dropped for poor performances? He shouldn’t be. Everyone at Arsenal knows the issue here isn’t the person, it’s the player. The system has outgrown his ability. If you want to succeed with a Juego De Posicion, you can’t have a striker in there that can receive the ball into feet or run the line. We talk about the lack of chances in the system without acknowledging the painful reality that Auba is part of that problem. If your striker can’t hold the ball up or turn with it with his back to goal, your attacking system is not going to create to its optimum levels. Just think back 5 years ago, Olivier Giroud had his speed limitations, but his ability to stitch play together allowed Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey and Cazorla to thrive from an attacking perspective. He could play one-touch, he could hold the ball up, he would bully defenders. His weakness was pace, which made it easy to squeeze up on us, but there are strikers within our reach now that have everything he does PLUS pace.
The Times is reporting our interest in lowly Everton’s Dominic Calvert Lewin. He’s a rough diamond. He looked like peak-Inzaghi at times under Carlo. What does he have? Speed. Power. Elite air game. He’s a gooner. He bullies defenders. We’re clearly looking to the future. We’d have Tammy A in our line-up if we’d been able to move on one of our strikers this summer.
It’s also interesting that we’re looking at Dejan Kulusevski, the Swede with Macedonian heritage (parents) is powerful, he has great control in tight spaces, his range of passing is very good, and he has red hair. His stats point towards a player that keeps the ball moving forward. Apparently, he’s ranked #1 in the league for one-touch passing accuracy, and he’s good for key passes.
He’s only 21, so he fits our profile, and when you look at his defensive stats, you see again, we’re looking for players that can do it at both ends. He ranks in the highest percentiles for pressures and tackles… and get this, he’s also in the 67th percentile for aerial clearances. Small thing, but having 6ft 1 attackers that can help from setpieces at both ends gives us additional weaponry. Remember Giroud from corners?
There’s also Ianis Stoica, the young Romanian, who is being linked with a move. Can do everything Lacazette can but with power and pace.
Basically, it’s clear that our attacking options are going to get a big reset over the next year.
But what can we do NOW?
Our options are slim. Eddie Nkeitiah is apparently training well. Say what you will about his output for Arsenal, he’d run the line better than Auba and Lacazette.
There’s also the potential of Gabriel Martinelli through the middle. I still feel that’s a bit of a lightweight option right now. He’s a top talent, but he needs that Wenger education out on the wing before we can think about him inside. We’d all love to see Balogun given another go, but I’m just not sure we’re at the stage where we need to be taking risks like that. We’re in the mix for top 4 this season whether we like to admit it or not. A 90 minutes like the Brentford offering and we’ll not come away with what we need. I think he needs a solid loan at a club where he’ll be guaranteed minutes.
A few were scoffing at Boro, but for me, that idea feels very interesting. Chris Wilder has been there for about a month, we know he’s a progressive coach that moved Sheff U a long way, they are mid-table. I have no idea what Ben Knapper’s model is for loan moves, but one would suspect he is painfully aware of what happens when you get them wrong. Eddie is a prime example here. Fortuna Dusseldorf nearly had a deal for him, Leeds came in with a fee, the player ended up going there and not getting any minutes. If he went to Germany, that wouldn’t have been the case, and he’d probably be further along in his career now.
The perfect loan is a bit of a Goldilocks formula.
If the club is chasing promotion, the stakes might be too high to let a young player flump around in the starting 11.
If the club is rock bottom, the stakes and emotion around the camp might be too high to let a kid slum it with the bigger boys.
You need a club that is in transition, safe enough to give young players time, and you probably want a coach that wants to make a statement about kicking up the technical level of a team.
I wouldn’t be against Boro’, it’s a tough place to be a pro, but if you do well, the fans love you. That or a move to a solid German club would be good for him. Emile cut his teeth at Huddersfield, Ben White at Leeds and Newport, Harry Kane went to Leyton Orient and Milwall… you don’t need a trendy loan move for it to be successful.
Finally, I’m writing this as West Ham put in ANOTHER huge performance against a top team. David Moyes really has been absolutely magnificent since he arrived. I’m not sure Chelsea are at the level of Liverpool or City this season. I’m looking forward to seeing how Tuchel deals with adversity. It also shows the importance of us grabbing those 3 points on offer on Monday. We need to keep pace with West Ham this month. They are top 4 contenders, no doubt. I don’t know why people keep using West Ham to pick holes at the club, a reminder, we win on Monday and we are 1 point behind them… also, West Ham are GOOD. One of the oldest squads in the league against the youngest. We’re in good shape. Loads to improve on, but we’ll get there.
I’m also watching Wolves put in a really good performance against Liverpool. They’ve been superb this season, their table position doesn’t reflect some of their performances, we are in for a TOUGH game on the 27th.
Right, jump on our podcast. People raving about the Matt Kandela performance, he started the game with a two-footed challenge on me and the crowd went wild.
Spudnik, I was probably 28… he was in his 50s, looking out for his mate the same age. Matt Scott, the ex Guardian calmed the tension. Mad.
On a lighter note; congrats Goober on living in the drunkest country.
Australia is officially the DRUNKEST country in the world with Britons and Americans ranking in top five biggest binge drinkers as Global Drug Survey reveals alcohol and drug habits during the Covid pandemic
The Global Drug Survey found Australians and Britons to be amid the drunkest .The 2021 data also found that the Irish were the most regretful after drinking.
However on average most people around the world consumed less drugs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10274995/Global-Drug-Survey-reveals-alcohol-drug-habits-Covid-pandemic.html
Tony,
‘it’s the 27th for me as my last ref point to see realistically where we are’
Bit weird that your hot take is that you’ll make a judgement on Arsenal’s season after our final hard game of the season despite there being 33 points to grab against what you are deeming easy teams.
We’ve a striker used to score 30+ goal a season, and a manger who has no clue what to do to fix the attack and Pedro telling us it’s the striker fault!.
Any striker in world football would struggle with Mr averageness system.
Somehow I don’t see WengerEagle or Marko being regretful after 14 pints of Guinness. I doubt they’d be anything but drunk and happy for the most part.
God bless all Ireland and all who drink in her!
Even limited Emery made us an attacking team and designrd a system for Auba scoring regularly.
Previously on Le grove…..
1. Sean Dyche hyped
2.Xhaka to make Partey(the midfielder we’ve been waiting for since Paddy), play better.
The moment before a girl pulls down her panties, many things could go wrong, a knock at the door, an important phone call, an explosion outside……
Thats where Arsenal are @
Far less wired than your massaged tables, Pedro.
Try rereading for context, Pedro. It’s simple enough.
Sid
One shouldn’t care about that explosion outside
Some posters are almost at the point of telling fans not to celebrate when we score a goal or produce a moment of brilliance during a game. Instead fans should rather wait till the end of the game to determine whether to celebrate or not.
This seasons ride is certainly more interesting than last seasons. I feel positive and i’m enjoying it. I think the owners will back Arteta again in the TW and he’ll add another piece or two and we’ll move up another level. Probably not what some of you want to read or see .
To me irrespective of my arteta stance, I’ll always back my team and imo with the context this season i think we’re pretty much still on track. I hope it stays that way with a win over Everton. Again people are so invested in their hatred towards xhaka(how you can hate some one so much I can’t understand. Used to be Wenger and ozil) they forget he’s still a useful player for now. Lokonga has so much talent but it’s his first season in the epl and he’s still what 21? Xhakas experience and quality is still handy in this… Read more »
The sooner the narcissist Henry shuts his mouth about Arsenal the better.
HerbsArmyDecember 5, 2021 01:30
Spot on, couldn’t agree more.
Pedro, you say that you “enjoy” being Arsenal fan ATM…what is it exactly that you enjoy? Piss poor stack 17/14, dragging away 1:0 victories against such mights as Norwich and Watford, or regular pasting we receive from serious football clubs with serious, experienced, top class management? This blind faith in Rosey future based on nothing concrete will end in failure, just like Brexit.
The true Arsenal fans should expect high standards from the manager and players,
Lowering standards and celebrating mediocrity is sycophancy
Pedro Do you not see a pattern developing under Arteta? Do you not see a worrying trend when it comes to making those critical decisions both before and during games? Do you not see a very disturbing attitude when it comes to dealing with the players and how to genuinely motivate and instil confidence in them? Especially those that need it. Are you not concerned that over the past two years, Mikel Arteta has favoured and applauded those players that should not have been wearing an Arsenal shirt or anywhere near the team, whilst turning his back on those that… Read more »
I’m not a fan of Aubameyang, and certainly didn’t want us to put a 31yr old who was all about athleticism on a mega contract He’s never been a player hugely involved in games, but when he’s banging 25+ a season, and scoring the goals that win football games, fans have been willing to tolerate him going missing for large parts of the game We need a new striker, but we have to find a way to extract value from Aubameyang in the meantime, I’d be more concerned if he wasn’t getting in the position to miss chances, than I’m… Read more »
Also, by the end of this evening we’ll be 7th on the table, behind ManUtd and Tottnam, who are having abysmal season by all standards. So what is it that you enjoy about Arteta’s Arsenal?
if you can’t apply
Toney is the one forward I would want at Arsenal now. His all round game has developed well. Good age. Can score all different type of goals, good in the air, good hold up play.
DCL doesn’t excite me
And these other players mentioned would take time to adapt to the premier League. Toney is just what we need after missing out on Abraham.
“The true Arsenal fans should expect high standards from the manager and players, Lowering standards and celebrating mediocrity is sycophancy” Sid, you’ve also got to be realistic, recognise where we are, where we were in 2019, and that turning a ship around that’s been hundreds of miles off track, takes time That there’s clubs currently ahead of us, who’ve spent a lot of money, made a lot of good decisions over long periods, and have had some very astute people navigating their ship We’re playing catch up, we’re trying to undo previous mistakes, put a strong foundation in place to… Read more »
Rich
Every Arsenal fan knows why we are where we are.
This is all to do with actual events being played out in front of us.
We all want the club to progress and succeed but some of us want it to happen under someone that genuinely knows what he’s doing.
This has nothing to do with being patient and “turning the ship around”.
This is all to do with WHAT WE SEE.
If you don’t see it, we’ll, what can I say.
I think we are set for the next few years (likely longer) with our keeper and back four. We have Saka and Smith Rowe who could potentially be lifers at the club. Not to mention a another couple of highly rated academy prospects. Where I am sure e club will focus its recruitment in the summer will be in attack. If we have similar funds to the summer just gone , I would love to see smart investments in a striker, a goal getting wide forward and another dynamo in central midfield. Another years experience with the current players and… Read more »
Everton away is a pivotal moment for Arteta.
Going back to his old club, the passion of the crowd.
We should win it. We have to win it.
The onus is on Arteta to make it happen.
Lose or even draw and it would be a disaster imo.
We are where we are not because of cyclical changes or new alignments between Andromeda and Orion star clusters. We are where we are because we allowed a past it washed out manager to decline us further down the hierarchy of football while substituting his own standards for the pinnacle of the sport. Wenger dragged us down over a decade from 2006 while many here agreed with his “top 4” mantra and even applauded it. We are now doing the same thing albeit with a total novice who had no prior good standing to leverage on. Our club management took… Read more »
Morning, United was their for the taking, as soon as we went one nil up we sat back thinking job done, if we’d gone for the second it’s a different result. Even with the shooting ourselves in the foot decisions I can understand it’s frustrating but youngsters will make mistakes like that, as long as they learn from them. I see people calling for xhakas return. Because he’s better than what we have. That’s like saying would you prefer a dog shit sandwich or a cat shit baguette. Midfield is a joke and has been for years. Xhakas had he’s… Read more »
Partey has to understand that their are no easy games in the EPL.
In Spain you’re given far more time and it doesn’t half the physicality.
He has to impose himself more and not switch off, which he tends to do.
There is a great player there, it’s just his mental attitude.
Over to you Mikel.
I read that right after the game, Auba “liked” a Ronaldo’s post of celebrating his goals. Auba is a play boy, making big money, driving expensive cars. While we were heart broken from the loss, he was commenting on a Ronaldo’s post. What an Arsenal captain, my Ass.
Sorry about my grammar in last post.
Trying to get our boiler started!
It’s new!!!
In the midst of all this , Hector Bellerin just helped his team keep a clean sheet against Barcelona . #BringBackHector
Up4grabs
I really hope the Xhaka that Pedro and Champagne Charlie see turns up because we really wont have anyone apart from Lokonga and AMN , when AFCON starts . Squeaky bum time . The Granit Xhaka I know is an error prone slow DM/CM , that wasnt even missed when we had our unbeaten run this season.
Graham, you’re such a drama Queen, you’re rivalling chief bedwetter MD-Gunner for sensationalism + hysteria….. “ Lose or even draw and it would be a disaster imo.” Grow up FFS, if we didn’t drop any points throughout the season, we’d play 38, won 38, and we’d win the title on 114 points, which as far as I’m aware, has never happened in the history of any of the top league’s. If those are your expectations? And you think we have the quality to do that, then you’re even more delusional than I already think you are, and have grandeur ideas… Read more »
If one collates Sid’s posts one can get the Gospel truth according to Sid.
Keep them coming. We miss Alumiasnomore as well
Rich
If you say so.
Of course, I don’t agree.
Tell me Rich, do you sit in a recliner or one of those comfy massage chairs?
Must be nice to lead such a comfortable life.
Smell the coffee mate, it’s actually quite strong.
When did the Arsenal become underdogs and minnows when facing big clubs.
So, failing against an Everton team that has hit an iceberg is acceptable.
Lovely Jubbly!
MC, Liverpool and Chelski go out to win games, not with the mentality not to lose.
There’s a massive difference between the two.
That’s what sets them apart.
By a huge margin.
No fear, no doubts, just simple positivity.
Khabib
2006!
Last season it became apparent that our classy striker, Auba, had lost his goal scoring touch. The reason was hard to fathom – illness, family loss, the comfort zone? My conclusion at the end was that he was out-of-synch with the Arteta style of football. A high quality player who would be prolific elsewhere. I guess Arteta would have sold him if an offer had come, and replaced him with someone suited to his style. That did not happen probably because his salary demands were too high. And Arteta spent what money he had on more pressing needs. After all,… Read more »
Divine,
Xhaka in another league looks alright, Germany, France Italy, maybe even Spain but the premier league is too quick we’ve all seen it and 5 years later nothings changed.
People calling for his return have really short memories.
Worse case is amn and lokonga I’d take that.
Hell stick Ben white in there and play holding alongside Gabriel.
Midfield has been a joke for so long and successive managers have left it to rot.
Wenger emery and arteta can all take the blame for that.
Legend has it if Xhaka comes back in to the team and plays the rest of his career here, there might even be one game where he can be MOTM
In the very least we miss his leadership. I mean we saw against city and Chelsea his leadership ability and it was second to none.
Stockholm syndrome never felt so good
I said in the summer we should’ve seriously been pushing for an elite CM to accompany partey so our third our 4th choice could be sambi and AMN.
We did try for loca, not sure if he was ever the right choice but seems it was him or no one in the summer.
Graham62
You are right, Wenger thought Arsenal were punching above their weight and top 4 an achievement.
Up4grabs
Emery was close to getting rid of him to be honest . Hell even Torreria was better than Xhaka , I still dont know what Torreria did wrong ? Ceballos was given a season long loan over him . Arteta and his baffling selections . Sigh .
It’s fine that partey had a bad game. It’s not fine that partey is still inconsistent.
There has to be a point when he needs to be good 80% of the time.
We always here about the benefit of experience but what value is his experience bringing us if he’s no more consistent than Sambi?
To be honest I can see xhaka doing what he always does and getting Lego head sacked as all these fans who some how think xhaka coming back after a big injury is gonna somehow stabilise our already very poor CM are kidding them selves .Lego head will persist in playing him and will also persist with the struggling ODE who currently is not fit for purpose at 10 .I am hoping we see sense and spend again in January as we need another competent CM and a striker at the very least otherwise I can see another 7-8 finish… Read more »
Clubs with most matches played in the UEFA Champions League from 1955 to 2021
Characteristic Games played
Real Madrid CF 451
FC Bayern Munchen 362
FC Barcelona 327
Juventus 287
Manchester United FC 285
SL Benfica 259
FC Porto 255
AC Milan 249
FC Dynamo Kyiv 242
AFC Ajax 233
Liverpool FC 227
Celtic FC 214
Arsenal FC 201
RSC Anderlecht 200
FC Internazionale Milano 184
Chelsea FC 181
Olympiacos FC 180
PSV Eindhoven 177
Khakib
Sorry for misspelling your name.
englandsbest
What about sidelining the wrong guy?
Simple solution.
So going out and spending huge amounts on a striker is the answer to our persistent problems?
Great plan!
Khakis
We are almost certainly the biggest club in the world not to have won the CL, forget City and PSG.
It may work to our advantage later on this season not having European football to contend with, but I sure have missed it this season. We gotta be back there next season, even if it’s the conference league!
Wouldn’t it be quite something to win the ECL, El and then CL in successive seasons!
Chris
“even if it’s the conference league!”
Isn’t that a sackable offence finishing 7th and out of the top six again?
Graham
A new striker is on the cards, with Laca/Eddie leaving and Balogun not ready, I’d also be looking to move on Auba by anyways practicable. I do feel Martinelli will become a viable central option within a couple of years, still easy to forget how young he is.
I still feel ESR’s future is potentially as a central attacking midfielder, I think we also desperately need a consistent goal threat from a wide forward (or whatever the label for that is these days)-
Partey and Lokonga were a part of the unbeaten run. But yes partey needs to step it up.
Graham62
No problem.
Ishola
I feel Arteta needs top 6 to earn the right to carry on. However in reality, the club would likely go with him if we qualified for the Conference League. Who knows, they may even stick with him with another 8th placed finished, they are clearly committed to the current staff and have shown lots of patience.
I’m not saying that’s correct, probably somewhere close to the clubs view.
I just want to be playing European football again.
Graham Losing a football game isn’t hitting an iceberg, we’re a young team at the beginning of a new cycle, there’s bound to be inconsistencies + choppy waters to navigate, it’s inevitable We’ll be in with a good chance of getting a result at Goodison, we’re slight favourites to win the game, but that doesn’t translate to us getting the result we want, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and when they don’t, it’s better to stay calm, rather than throwing a hissy fit…. Catastrophising + sensationalising every bad or good result isn’t rational, every time we get a good… Read more »
Divine,
I liked torriera, the thing with him and guendouzi was they were partnered with xhaka and occasionally big mo.
I’d bet good money torriera would have looked better alongside partey.
They ended up trying to cover for xhaka too much and trying to hold the midfield on there own.
God I miss having the likes of Gilberto, Cesc, paddy and Santi in our midfield
Is Thierry a bedwetter? Asking for a friend.
Xhaka does get an unnecessary amount of hate in this fanbase but I believe many here are correct in suggesting that the impact of his return is being exaggerated. Granit does do a lot of organising of his teammates with his yelling and pointing. But he comes from the same school of thought as Mustafi and Luiz. Bossing your teammates around despite not doing your own job properly. Everyone knows someone like this, whether at work or in their personal lives. It’s been almost six years since Granit joined this club, we’ve seen what he has to offer and it’s… Read more »
We often chase shadows instead of looking hard at truth. 1- without Xhaka we are back to winning except at Old Toilet where Arttits got confused overestimating his abilities 2- Odegard is praised for pressing, is like being impressed by a stray dog who chases passing cars with same result as Odegard. Impressive but pointless bluster. 3- Martineli was scaring and unsettling the Manure defence. The interplay with fellows is not there. Only with the Jap chemistry is there. Crying for more game time, but we get opinions of Martineli being lightweight. Exactly a chicken or egg first conundrum. Auba… Read more »
Graham62
Arsenal no longer have ‘persistent’ problems. Most of them have been sorted, and the few problems that remain are likely to be transitory. Such as the lack of a high-calibre goal-scorer.
You, on the other hand, DO have a persistent problem. A melancholy ‘one-note blame everything on the manager’ dirge.
If you want to be taken seriously, change your tune.
Chris “I just want to be playing European football again.” I thought playing european football meant that this was a sign that you were a good team or at least it used to be. Qualifying for the Europa Conference League basically means you have failed again in the EPL unless you are a team like Brentford. Standards have fallen haven’t they. And that’s not even thinking about the sort of teams you are going to face in the Europa League the minnows of european football. All I can think is that you have a deep love for european football and… Read more »
A blind man can see xhaka is not going to help us into the top 4 .a blind man can also see we need a new striker
*And that’s not even thinking about the sort of teams you are going to face in the Europa Conference League the minnows of european football.*
englandsbest
Can you answer me this question, how did we get from 70 points in 2019 to 56 points in 2020 and 61 points in 2021.
I’m sure there are some that would rather see Lokonga continue to develop rather than seeing Xhaka who we all know about as he has been at the club long enough.
If certain people had their way we would not have seen the emergence of Smith Rowe as a player such is some people’s fixation regarding seniority of players.
Shaun
When a blind man is deaf as well there is no salvation
Chris is just being honest
The Europa.conference league isn’t as bad as it seems.
It’s good to have more competitive games for the players on the periphery of the squad to use to make a claim for more playing time.
It will be boring initially but once it gets to the last 16, things will get more interesting.
Up4grabs
Not to mention Emery going loco and playing Torreria as CAM as well . Have you seen the passing stats of Odegaard ? He made 0 passes to Auba , just 1 to ESR and twice to Saka and he is supposed to be the no. 10 !
“If certain people had their way we would not have seen the emergence of Smith Rowe as a player such is some people’s fixation regarding seniority of players.“
Always making straw man arguments.
Playing young players in place of better senior players has never been a strategy to admire. We played ESR, and continue with him, because he’s much better than our senior options in attack.
Lokonga isn’t better than Xhaka, it’s that plain and simple, especially when you consider what’s missing from the midfield the last few months.
Devine,
I’d rather see two strikers and then get the midfield organized.
We don’t need three in midfield now xhaka is out of the side, and the defence has more pace.
The full backs help balance the midfield out but aren’t so far forward that they can’t protect the defence.
Yeah emery did lose the plot when he was playing torriera as an attacking mid. Lol
Devine, ESR should be the ten. Those stats are shocking.
Good to see you own the Smith Rowe point Charlie.
We would not have seen Smith Rowe emerge at Arsenal like he has if Charlie had his way previously.
Charlie would have got some loanee from Real Madrdid again to play in front of Smith Rowe.
Dissenter
“It will be boring initially but once it gets to the last 16, things will get more interesting”
Just more and more competitions with the quality diluted each time.
But as we know fans will watch anything.
Watching Antonio playing up front with his hustling and power shows ho weak we are in this department.
The top three don’t like it up em in defense and strong attacking certainly gets results.
Auba needs to go with others to get a good pot of dish to liven up our attacks.
I think our best attack surely is Laca upfront , with Pepe and Saka either side with ESR #10 . Laca does bring others into play , seeing Pepe is frozen out now , rather play Martinelli then .
Up 4 grabs now
Yea, those Odegaard stats are damning
How do you play for 79 minutes as a number 10 and make ZERO passes to the striker?
That’s a head scratcher and just goes to show we have problems that go well beyond individual players or the age of the squad. Odegaard has spent almost one calendar year at Arsenal with Auba and ESR.
Dissenter
I honestly thought we turned a corner playing two strikers and 442.
The current system doesn’t get the best out of our players.
Either change the system or the players but to do nothing is what pisses me off.
Arteta has to get 4th this season or miss it by a point or so at worst.
Anything less and he needs to go.
Wenger was judged on 4th as a minimum emery as well.
Standards keep getting lowered to accommodate Arteta it has to stop.
Champions league qualification or bust for me.
He had two seasons, he own players
Now its time to deliver
“Good to see you own the Smith Rowe point Charlie.We would not have seen Smith Rowe emerge at Arsenal like he has if Charlie had his way previously. Charlie would have got some loanee from Real Madrdid again to play in front of Smith Rowe“ There you go again, binary and simplistic as ever. Do exciting youngsters need to have inferior players ahead of them in order to make a career? Do tell. My view is the first XI at a club like Arsenal should be full of established, elite talent, and ideally we’ll have an army of Hale Enders… Read more »
..and to think Pepe was frozen out so that Ode and Auba can do worse
Pepe scored the odd goals too by the way
Who’s going to replace the10 goals Pepe scored last season
Someone needs to ask the manager that question, a lot of the goals Pepe scored were chances he created largely by himself.
I think Arteta has a tendency to be harsh in players that weren’t signed under his tenure
I hope he brings Ode into ask him, what’s up with making one pass to Auba and ESR combined for 79 minutes?
Dissenter has tied his bed sheet to his back like a cape so he can fully embrace protecting the virtues of random figures in football. Yesterday Sean Dyche, and now the Pepe crusade is back in full swing.
Samaritan supreme, if there’s second hand offence to take he is your man.
Champagne Charlie
Calling our record signing piss stain , pretty dumb . Pepe so far has made 102 appearances , and has 44G/A compare that to someone like Maddison who has 155 apps and 60 G/A , very similar numbers . Its just that Arteta has no clue how to work him in a proper attacking system.
Dissenter
How about a Losers League, for all the relegated teams of Europe?
That might be interesting when it gets to last 16
And thats under 3 different mangers by the way , compare that to Maddison who has absolute faith of Brendan . Arteta is risk averse , thats why he is shouting at the players from sidelines when they take risks , Pepe is a player who will take risks and might even lose the ball in the process , that is why he isnt playing .
Charlie
That’s rich coming from captain simplistic with a major blind spot for Arteta.
Your new mantra is the claim the flaws are all from the age of squad and a lack inexperience. Never mind the relative inexperience of the manager.
The manager has frozen out a player who scored 10 goals last season and are we better off?
You would rather stick to your well worn talking points; Pepe is irredeemable shite, world class Partey needs Xhaka to return to help him play well and off course we need to sign older players.
englandsbest
Actually I’m sure a European conference league trophy will look splendid in our bare European trophy cabinet. It’s embarrassing that a club of Arsenal’s stature has won so little on the continent.
I expect you to be singing the praises of the conference league if that’s what Arteta succeeds in qualifying us for.
**Your new mantra is the claim the flaws are all from the age of squad and inexperience
Champagne Charlie
Arteta has improved our defense no doubt but right now it increasingly looking like he doesnt know how to improve our attack , We have scored just 5 away goals in the league in 7 matches same number as Newcastle at the bottom . We broke the record last year of lowest amount of goals scored at home .
” Our comfort blanket is to sit deep. Our players have very little confidence or know-how when it comes to going a goal up.”
You say this like its the individual players decision and not that they are doing exactly what they are told from that guy on the sideline who is screaming at them for 90 minutes.
I wonder why all the talk of inexperience never gets extended to the manager who is still learning his trade. Arteta needs to Winston of the blame for the inability to manage winning positions It’s impossible to accept that a manager who’s standing for 90 minutes barking instructions is being defied actively. Tim Stillman recently commented that it’s impossible to think the players aren’t doing anything but follow the manager’s instructions by staying passive. “ I’ve watched enough of this team under Arteta to recognise a disconnect between what he says and what his team does. His teams routinely stop… Read more »
* Arteta needs to accept some of the blame for the inability to actively manage winning positions
I don’t see anyone claiming Arteta is the finished article.
Of course he is gaining experience along with his team. That was a given when he was selected in the first place.
Also for Juego de Posicion to work, the midfielders have to be a hyper-aggressive with tackling and readiness to break up play with cynical rotational fouling.
It’s going to be hard for it to work with the Ode’s approach. He needs to adapt pretty quick.
To be fair to Arteta, he has to rely on 3 senior players that aren’t quite good enough. They are okay players but our youngsters are better. That says a lot. Lacazette is the better of the three but he doesn’t have the goal scoring ability of the other two. If only we had a combination of Lacazette and Auba, he would be a complete striker. We need to sell Pepe. I wouldn’t mind if we exchanged him for Johnatan David of Lille. Or Sign Kulusevski, Anthony or someone like that to replace him and we will be golden. We… Read more »
Rangnick trying Ronaldo as AM. But Rashford instead of Bruno would have been better up front.
But, yes Man U are quite far from being a winning side
Viera got a good defensive nous in his young cheap side.
Clear and clean without bullshitting