How nice to win a game. I feel like we should do more of this, everyone would be a lot happier.
Still, we scored three and beat Watford 3-1. Here’s how the players rated.
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Monday, December 23, 2024
How nice to win a game. I feel like we should do more of this, everyone would be a lot happier.
Still, we scored three and beat Watford 3-1. Here’s how the players rated.
Need to mention theo got an assist, just cuz he takes so much hate recently.
He’s such a confusing player. Walcott can have such great moments and even has games where he continually makes the defenders cry. However, with his consistency issues and his tendency to go missing completely for long periods of the game, he cannot be relied upon hanger in game out. I think most of us have a soft spot for him though and really want him to do well but he struggles to consistently meet our expectations which aren’t way too high considering the number printed on his back He just needs to keep working hard like he did today, that’ll… Read more »
Xhaka’s mobility may be an issue. Still super raw, and he was absolutely terrible on the goal conceded. Hopefully he’s not the first player in history to start some posh new trend of a “luxury no. 6.” Glad we got the 3 points, two new signings, things are looking up.
I don’t think he was absolutely terrible on their goal. Ok he didn’t leap in at a split second notice, but it was a bit of pinball in there. Our best defenders have been known to stand and stare while a player takes a shot/ peels off them for a free header. It happens quite a lot actually.
Great to get three points, new boys looking good. Now let’s get a tasty offer for Theo and move him on while he still has some value.
Wonderful team performance. Elneny impressed as usual after coming on and the ozil Alexis combination is out of this world. Xhaka also excellent. It’s amazing how much better a day becomes for me whenever we win. More of this lads! 🙂
We are a completely different team with Ozil in it. Great to see him back and firing on all cylinders straight away!
Can we tell the Ox there’s just pre season from now on.
With Xhaka on the pitch we can play Ramsey or Wilshere in our midfield he seems a great anchorman and could finally shout Ramsey into positioning discipline. Sanchez showed is best as always comes from the wings where he has 10 years of exprience. Ozil havent changed much which is a great thing (exept a headed goal). 1 thing that didnt change was Chamberlain. Again the season starts and man did he even have one good touch? We should have sent Ox out on loan and kept Campbell. It would be a win win win situation. Once Wenger moved on… Read more »
Replied by mistake
Oops sorry, replied on purpose. Sorry about that, I hit reply there and scrolled all the way down. Sorry. Oops my finger slipped. Oops my finger slipped.
Yes, the Ox was poor today, but in the midst of the tendency to be so swift to judge, let’s remember a few things: 1. The goals/performances in preseason and his goal against Liverpool. Clearly, the kid has lots of ability. Still time to coax it out of him on a more regular basis, but we know he’s got confidence issues (Wenger’s said as much) so the last thing he needs is the fans on his back so early in the season. Let the young man breathe, and let’s see what happens. 2. He’s been playing on the left, when… Read more »
I believe the Ox might actually play better with Giroud in the side because it simplifies his decision making: beat his man and cross the ball in. Without Giroud it requires better decision making with the ball at his feet, something he appears to be struggling with a bit lately. Ox also isn’t quite adept at swapping to the center, which he had to do today with Alexis a bit today since Alexis found joy drifting to the left channel often (IMO). All in all, I don’t think his performance was bad, just more of a we know he can… Read more »
No time for sentimentality or persistence in this years PL. Terrible misjudgement to loan Campbell and not sell Ox; sadly one of Wengers blind spots which prevent Arsenal moving forward. Ox will clearly never make it, same with Theo. Isn’t that obvious to all? Campbell has vision, great feet and can finish. Isn’t that obvious? Hope that Perez keeps Ox and theo out of the starting lineup.
Won’t be surprised if, once fit, Wenger starts Jack on the LW.
He was after Mikh and obviously wants a creative dribbler on one wing (to balance his direct option on the other wing, like he’s always done).
And the Ox flatters to deceive.
What you guys talking about? Really?? Cech has better first touch than him. He simply cant keep the ball at his feet. When he manages to do so he makes the worst dicision ever. No matter what position or along whom he plays. He is not a good finisher either. An average of 3 4 goals a season talks for itself. Which is decreasing every passing season so dont say he is imroving on that. Pennant had more goals in his first mounth as a teenage debutant. And most importantly his defensive side of game. Last season even though he… Read more »
I completely agree. Ox and Theo (good cop/buddy movie name) both have concrete blocks for feet. Neither can do the basics like control the ball in tight spaces or beat their man 1-1 with an actual move other than kick it past them and run. How they get unlimited chances from Wenger is beyond me.
But hey nice result today, let’s build on it, get everyone fit and get the new players in, and see what happens.
Wish i could run that fast with concrete shoes, i bet it would upset alot of mobsters too
Describe Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.
Answer: anonymous.
Bugger! Arsenal won and we signed two players. Lets find a player to pick on. I know, the Ox made a couple of errors today. Lets crucify him so that we don’t have to pretend we’re happy.
Well done guys, keep the complaints flowing so that the rest of us can’t just enjoy the win.
Happy
Think the Ox can only perform if he has top level “ban’ah” with the defender on his flank. Best performances have come with Jenks so far…
Xhaka is something else, man. I was giddy about him all summer because of his passing skills, and he’s delivered on that end. What I didn’t foresee was how much he enjoys the rough and tumble that goes on in the middle field. I’ve been thinking Xhaka-Coq would be our best holding pairing, but it looks like Xhaka has absorbed all the Coqiness so his inclusion in our Best 11 may be redundant. Xhaka-Cazorla is probably our best bet against the elite of Europe, and I hope that’s how things turn out. Two incisive “metronome” types that can start up… Read more »
I propose Caxhaka
CAIPARINHA!
I’ll bring the limes and brown sugar
ÖCAXHACA…, I Can’t stop this feeling…
How has no one landed on Xhakazorla yet? Sprung to mind immediately once they started doing their thing today! I think this may be our best midfield combo in games where we expect to be on top for the majority such as today.
Or Cazhaka?
Xhakorla
Xhazorla
Xhakorla is easily the best one here, [ZJACK-AH / Kaz-or-la] the la/ah being the similarity.
the others seem as good as that US xhaka song……
It will depend on the opposition regarding Xhaka and Carzola as I see when teams lay back, give up possession and defend in numbers, they are the perfect pairing to pick apart opposition with their passing. However, if we play Bayern or a Barca in Champions League, I imagine it would be Coquelin with Xhaka or Carzola as winning back the ball will be critical and possession much harder to come by. You can see that Xhaka has a lot more to contribute when he becomes fully acclimated to the speed of the Premier league but Le Coq’s disruptive, combative… Read more »
No, Carzola is rubbish. I want to see Cazorla in there.
Carzorla has a great engine tho….:-)
I think Xhaka was such a target because he combined the duties of Coquelin and Cazorla. Ideally you have one player that can both breakup play and distribute. Cazcoq worked, but they were doing the work of one great holding midfielder.
I think Xhaka-Caz will work well against teams like today; Xhaka-Elneny or Xhaka-Coquelin against teams where we might be on the back foot. Xhaka-Ramsey depends on which Ramsey we get – the one that flourished alongside Arteta or the one that finds himself further upfield than our striker.
Alexis getting to grips with link play while playing through centre, Ozil playing incisive through balls as always, xhaka pinging it early and forward, some serious pace through Theo, ox, Lucas Perez, welbeck….. We are going to destroy teams on the counter…….. As long as we defend as a team like we have in recent past and not play such a high line……. I am seeing good things coming our way!!!
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alexis was everywhere … in the middle, on the left, chasing back in midfield. Worked well today.
The combination of home and away kit colors of both teams was tough on my eyes
Not sure which other countries are getting the new look Goal Rush feature, where you switch out to goals and incidents in other games? It’s absolutely infuriating!!
Watching the game in Pakistan and I was getting it. Annoying as fuck.
It is horrible!! I think it did well on the last day of the season so they thought we wanted more of it. I understand that they thought it would work in our media addicted culture. But it has got to go, I want to watch Arsenal, not see highlights of other games almost every other minute. I almost felt that I’d see more of Arsenal if I watched the Chelsea game..
Loved that block Holding made in the second half when the cross came in along the back-line and he stuck his back leg out. Pure reflex, you can’t train that.
It just feels to me like Holding is a bit more mobile than Chambers, while still being imperious in the air. The Sky interview was interesting, where he suggested this whole ball on the ground thing was new to him, having come from the Championship.
Give it up to Xhaka!
Alexis with Ozil. These guys can give us hope
Last week the media were trying to make people believe that Arsenal didn’t need Xhaka, just so they could stick the boot into Wenger a bit more. What silly hacks they look today – for the umpteenth time. Anyone who was actually watching our central midfield last season knows it was a mess. Xhaka is changing all that and I love him already.
The moment leading up to the penalty really showcased Özil´s vision and accuracy in a nutshell. While most of our midfielders would have passed the ball sideways is that situation, he picked up on Alexis´s run, which initially created the chance and the penalty in the first place. The team is so much more fluid with him on the pitch.
Next game bring Giroud into centre forward, alexis to the left wing and start using Ox as an impact sub like against Liverpool!
Are you forgetting Lucas?
Maybe a bit too soon to have him as a starter. I’d expect to see us start him on the bench and bring him on later if we need him, and let him have his full debut at Ashburton Gove.
Great job Theo! Just work for the team and all else will fall in place…Well done guys!!!
Ozil and Sanchez = intellitech
Just don’t understand Ox. He has everything in his game but its arguable that he is getting worse. Think he needs a run of games but I doubt he will get it. Really worried. He looks like a man shorn of confidence and don’t understand why.
I get the feeling that the Ox should’ve been the one sent on loan to another country rather than poor Joel.
It would’ve done wonders for the Ox to just get away from all the hype of British media and more importantly, his own comfort zone and fight for his place in the team.
I think the only problem OX has is his confidence. The game was passing and we scored 3 and he wasn’t involved in any of the goals and the confidence problem is not general thing for him it is in there till he plays the game having immediate effect on him and in the 2nd half everything he tried didn’t got well and even more the confidence got him. We need someone to make his mind straight till he plays the game because the chance will come he just need to believe in himself.
It’s so strange, I remember him having hoards of confidence and drive. And he always seemed far older than he actually was. Like you say, he probably just hasn’t learnt to handle things well enough yet when things get tough.
I remember Wenger observing that the Ox is his own biggest critic. I fully agree with that. He is indeed his own biggest critic, in a bad way. Instead of berating himself the Ox should use every failed attempt at brilliance to do better the next time. His head drops too soon after every failed dribble.
That’s why I feel that he would’ve benefited with a loan move to another top league, probably La liga.
I think the Ox is one of those players who loses confidence when his own fans boo him, so stop bloody doing it!!
Ozil = Bergkamp.
Return of the King.
Return of the God
While I still think Bergkamp was overall the better player, mainly due to his goalscoring, I don’t think we’ve had a better playmaker. In fact, I’m not even sure the league as a whole has had a better one, not in terms of pure playmaking skills (controlling the pace/flow, finding space, range of passing etc).
Don’t do that. There’s only one Iceman.
The Holding rating……..wow!
Most guys played really well, but Xhaka stands out and is only 23.
Just love the way the team was solid
I think Xhaka earns a max from me for the disciplined way he protected the back four and also his extraordinary vision making those long range through passes. He reminds me of that guy who use to make those passes a certain number 4 jersey not too long ago.
Per?
Nah that DNA bloke.
Chamber pot needs a loan to karzee fc – only kidding, but it is sad to see him play SO poorly, reckon sending him out on loan would be a good idea
Would like to see Chambers and Chamberlain head out on loan until at least January, both (especially ox) are at a stage in their Arsenal careers where they just need a real run of games. Would be gutted if the ox didn’t fulfil his obvious potential
Whether we can afford to allow an ox loan is another matter given the departure of campbell and iwobi’s injury
Don’t praise the ox for his amazing step over and goal against Liverpool and then two games later ask when we should officially be worried. It’s all ebb and flow
Favorite part of Santi’s game today: lines up to take corner with right foot, thinks a bit, says, fuck it, Ill do it lefty.
I love that man.
Think Theo had a good game today. That first touch leading up to Alexis’ goal and the cross was great.
Bellerin > Cafu.
Elneny seems to inherit Rosicky’s tendency to up the tempo with his passing style. And the way he raannnn around to close the game. Awesome squad player.
He does pass so quickly and he does love to run. I think he’s going to continue to surprise and give Wenger a headache. I hope we use our depth to rotate though, I’m sure that’ll help a lot with our injury rate. This is going to be an interesting season!
I think Elneny will be our true surprise of the season.
I feel Xhaka was bought to work with Ramsey ala the Arteta-Ramsey axis that brought the best out of our Welshman.
However there’s someone about Elneny that kinda makes me feel he’s the box-2-box CM Wenger wants Ramsey to be (he plays more like a no.10 forced to play no.8).
He’s technically better, but provides the box to box energy, better passing and maybe just as good at shooting too.
As soon as Elneny steps on to the pitch you just know the game will be controlled.
Great player always available in space for a pass.
The first half was sublime ! This team in the second half had me biting my fingernails as all the old fears returned. Back on familiar ground which evoked feelings of elation,fear and finally exhilaration. Why am I made to suffer in this way every season in every game? Notwithstanding, I will continue to experience every gamut of emotion for the love of my club. How long my heart will hold out is anybody’s guess. Granit and Holding are assets so far; not forgetting Ozil,Alexis and Santi. Is the future looking brighter? Will the other new signings add another dimension… Read more »
Good team performance today. Defensively we are so much better when Kos is in the 11 and we are so much better offensively when Ozil is playing.
Theodore played well and had a good game in attack and tracked back well today. More of that please!
The luxury we have now is that we have the depth to withstand inevitable.injuries and to play whoever is in form and pick the best lineup for the opposition. And we can put players in their natural position. Alexis so wants to drift left whoever is left needs to be able to fill in the.middle. That’s something Ox obviously isn’t comfortable with.
As good a performance as this was the second half was still a bit worrying. Some desperate defending.
Why does everyone keep saying Alexis mis-hit the goal? i thought it was his only option to score (given momentum and ball position) and he pulled it off…
I am impressed with our performance. But we need better organization at the back, clean sheets will be an elixir for the title chase. Whatever happens, I’m a gunner for life.
Everyone’s gotta got off Ox’s back. Was stellar against Liverpool and scored an incredible goal, played very well in the first half last night too. He’s strong, fast and direct, plus has excellent dribbling ability and shooting – give him an extended run in the side and we’ll see his best. The defensive errors will be rectified with match fitness – everyone knows how fatigue can affect your decision-making.
I am smiling from ear to ear this morning. It’s going to be a wonderful week. All the best to everyone in the gooner world. COYG!!!!!!!!
It only just occurred to me watching the 3rd goal celebration…
Alexis and Ozil really remind me of Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
In recent times, I’ve only seen Chamberlain perform when the pressure’s off. There is absolutely no way Wenger will pick him ahead of Gnabry, Perez or even Walcott in a few weeks.
A loan is the best option for him because sitting on the bench at this age is simply-put bad.
I think Alexis meant it.
After a watching the match it struck me that Holding really looks good. He was quick to recover and looks to have good pace.He was good in the air and looks to have good size..he’ll get more solid as he gets older. He also distributed the ball well and decisively. I’d already pick him over Gabriel and I think signing Mustafi may spell the end for Gabriel.
47m for Holding. We were Robbed.
42.3m +1 panic buy Ozil scores.
35m Granit looks like Arteta on steroids (They did not get the lego hair right but he can pass a ball from deep like Santi)
Next up 35m for Mustafi. Well he’s no Stones but he’s a world cup winner and Euro, has t be a panic buy.
And Perez 17m. 17 goals. Absolutely bought the wrong player, I mean Henry was banging in the goals at Juventus when we bought him. Such a none Arsenal signing Perez.
Have to love the media for their great logic.:D