It wasn’t great defensively, but a fine performance from Alexandre Lacazette – who finished with a goal and an assists – helped Arsenal beat Cardiff 3-2 in the Premier League yesterday.
Read the report and watch the goals here.
Note: If you’re having issues with the ratings not displaying properly on mobile, we are aware of it and trying to sort asap, however if you view the post in landscape mode everything should fit in nicely until we get that fixed.
Here’s how the players rated.
Attack was great, need Torreira starting.
i doubt that. laca and auba finish was sublime. you cannot expect them to score goals like that every match. Arsenal should be creating better chances. the midfield is flat, no movement, speed or dynamism.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect one out of two £45m+ strikers to produce one great finish a match, though I agree we shouldn’t be reliant on it.
Liking the dropdown option for the ratings. The original star option was too much for my clumsy fingers, gave too many half stars. However, the arseblog rating is visible before our own ratings are done. Change in design?
And the average for other voters, also likely to ‘anchor’ any rating given to those figures.
I wonder if my suggestion from last week was missed, intentionally ignored as being a bad idea, or maybe under development. This being the internet I shall give my opinion again and fuck you all if you don’t like it. 😉 New ratings are mostly good. I Liked the original concept of hiding ratings until a vote is made to avoid the ‘anchoring’ effect highlighted by Pedant. However for those who missed the game, coming to the article to get an idea of player performance there needs to be a button to ‘show player ratings’. If you click the button… Read more »
See my comment below 😉
Top work blogs & team. Forgive me for not fully reading the comments before hitting reply and maybe coming across as a bit of a John Terry.
Starting to lose faith in Xhaka. No top centre mid should be giving away cross field passes like that off of their supposed favoured foot. When he plays those fast, low balls through the midfield it’s obvious how he needs to play, but he’s such a liability. I’m sure he completed 90 odd % of his passes as usual, but the ones he doesn’t are so dangerous to us. Have seen zero improvement in two years. On the positive, some much better football being played. That one one-touch move that resulted in Ramsey just missing bellerin’s cross was sublime. Could… Read more »
Maybe, he could bite off a part of Troy Deeney when we play them, but nah, he’s too classy to be a rabid dog like Suarez!
Also that last minute hand ball at the end almost gave me a heart attack. This guy costs us at least a goal every 2 games.
Totally agree. Think Torreira really staked his claim on that showing, though I have my reservations about Guendouzi as a partner. That little touch round the side where he bought a foul from Arter I think in the final 10mins and totally relieved the pressure on us was Santi-esque. His use of the ball seems great too. Very high hopes for him
Torreira’s use of the ball has been a pleasant surprise. He plays good long/killer balls too. Definitely would start him over Xhaka.
Torreira is really good technically, think he’ll surprise a few with his slight of feet! Glad it was him on the ball to play Laca on in the box for the winner. Anybody else (bar maybe Öz) would prob past it sideways or back to Ramsey or something. There’s more to this guy then just tenacity, hope he shines when settled. Torreira and Xhaka (for now) for me.
Cech and xhaka are useless why do we continue to play them when we have 2 quality players we bought to replace them if emery continues to play xhaka i want him out we can play torreira and guendouzi or torreria and ramsey,xhaka does nothing looks as bad with his feet as petr cech iv had enough bellerin too is fine against cardiff against any of the big teams he has to be dropped
That was a fantastic move. Kaleidoscopic football as Ray Hudson would say (ducks).
Xhaka needs to lose some weight
I think I lost some weight just cringing at this comment
I prefer not seeing the blog’s and the fans rating. It kills the fun somehow. It is if you are guided.
We are going to reintroduce this. It’s just that the feedback we got from hiding them is that some people want to see ratings straight away and don’t want to leave ratings themselves. So, hopefully after the Interlull, we’ll hide the ratings by default and you can then go and rate which will then display our ratings/comments. And for the other people there’ll be a ‘DISPLAY RATINGS’ button which they can hit to show our ratings/comments without them having to do anything else. We think it’s better that way too, so give us a week or two to sort it… Read more »
no sir. Please leave the ratings as it is now. Had problems with the ratings earlier on. This is the first ratings I’ve been able to access this season. This format suits me just good.
Just my take though. Thanks for doing such a wow job, Blogs.
We love you in Nigeria.
Thanks man. And don’t worry, we’re making them better for everyone. We maybe launched them a bit too early but the feedback has been really helpful so over the next few weeks it’ll be even more improved.
They will still be those who will hit DISPLAY RATINGS first to be guided for their own rating then come here and complain.
Well, we can’t do much about that!
No agenda here but I really struggle to see what people see in Ozil and Ramsey in games like these. Dont need to be reminded of the stats. I know what I saw. Ramsey is such a nearly player (apart from in finals and big games to his credit) and Ozil is almost all fluff. I Don’t think there are players we can replace them with like-for-like, but then that doesn’t make them superior or indispensible (cf I am Legend, the book). Ramsey passes too slow, doesn’t score enough to be higher up and doesn’t defend well enough to play… Read more »
you get only so much from the players you have, leave them and what have you got ?
@manjit well it would be a question of using other players, cultivating talents, selling those that do not or will not fit into the model and trying to build a core in the squad. that’s sort of where i am on this. but i do appreciate its a risk. @eternalflamini i think that’s exactly right and it is true for many of the other players. i like clarity in our concepts. and for me i think a large Part of this season is figuring out last season. that is, what was influenced by Wenger and what deficiency is just the… Read more »
You’re right; they’d be a defensive liability still and not enough goals in them. It’s time to stop looking at the past and start with the future.
I like the look of Neves (so far) at Watford; Very technical and complete but also a workhorse too.
Ramsey does some really good stuff, drives us forward, but sometimes his lack of awareness and his decision-making has me yelling at the screen. For example there was one occasion when Auba was bearing down on goal, completely free and Ramsey sort of rolled the ball along the ground into the first defender. I just think this is his ceiling now, and we have to get used to it. Those yearning for that 2014 Ramsey (me among them) are destined to be disappointed.
I feel if we have a pair of Potarra earrings (points for those who get the reference), we would fuse Ramsey and Ozil together to create the ultimate midfielder (or just another version of KDB). Ramsey has all the athleticism (bar speed/acceleration); the drive, the runs, the getting into good positions, the press, etc. But technically he is not world class. Sometimes I see what he’s trying to do, but regularly lacks the technique to pull it off, with moments going past due to requiring too much touches, or making a failed pass. He will keep trying and once in… Read more »
I think the lack of natural wingers makes playing 10 more difficult in this system as play gets closed down and clogged
true but there seems to increasingly be a dearth of those in top flight teams. i mean it’d be good for us to get at least one…
it is strange though how it changes. i remember when people said the same for ‘out and out’ strikers and defenders.
Dearth of Wingers?
City have 2 amazing ones (ignoring Sane’s slump),
Liverpool have at least one in Mane (Salah more a forward)
Barca, Madrid, Bayern all have one (that Gnabry lad at Bayern looks decent. Wonder if we can nick him?)
But agreed, we deffo need wingers.
these seem like attackers to me while i was thinking of midfielders. but point very much taken.
Micki has been another Ozil so far.
Well not as creative but certainly has been a success
Always thought fusin Giroud and Walcott would have created the perfect striker..Rather than the earrings it was the dance..Always preferred the fused jacket.
Me too. I think Ramsey is really not a huge concern at the moment. He may not win us games like he did in 2014, but I don’t believe he is costing us games. Stats have shown that the best way to improve your team is not by getting an expensive top player but by getting rid of your worst players. Ramsey isn’t in the bottom three imo.
Ozil on the right is a total waste of a position. It’s no coincidence that when he started drifting inside in the second half our forward line came to life. But whereas a year ago my answer to the question ‘is his quality worth the lack of defensive work?’ Was a resounding yes, now I’m not so sure. With just one player not pressing in the system i oresume emery is aiming for, the entire thing collapses. I wonder how long we’ll persist with him out of position?
I do love Ramsey, and would also love if he re-signed with the club. That said I agree that where he lacks most is in decision making. He either can’t pull the trigger on a pass that could potentially get someone in behind, or he doesn’t see it. I think he’s a great, all energy midfielder, and is capable of getting us 10 goals a game with his late runs into the box, but he lacks the intelligence of a great midfielder. Xhaka tries to be that Xabi Alonso type player, but he’s just not up to snuff. Like someone… Read more »
I’d keep Ramsey rather than Ozil. I like Ramsey’s directness and I think with his more athletic physique he is more likely to be coachable defensively.
Both of them are excellent players but Ozil just doesn’t suit Emery’s current team or the style he wants to play with.
I am worried we will bear through the bad/half-arsed perfomances from Xhaka in the name of giving him time then he will up and leave the minute he becomes good and another big club shows interest. He just gives me that vibe.
Like Ramsey?
Ramsey hasnt become good and no other clubs wants him so no not like Ramsey
Oaahahahahaha! Such brutal honesty. Well done Bored beast! 😀
Do you honestly believe no other club wants Ramsey? He must be in a very weak bargaining position with us then. Yet, somehow, I keep hearing complaints that he is trying to blackmail us by refusing to sign a new contract.
No player in his right mind would sign a new deal until the end of his contract unless he’s not business savvy. He will either get good money because we need him and get desperate to not lose him on a free or he will leave for free and get a huge signing on fee because of it somewhere else. Its not rocket science really lol.
“Not rocket science,” just facts. Dozens and dozens of players, top players, sign contract extensions every year. All represented by agents, some by the very top agents.
He’s never been on the transfer list
almost as divisive and incindery as your almost namesake.
Lula talking about divisive namesake.
i was joking about @faisalnarrage. no offense meant whatsoever.
No big club is coming for xhaka believe that
From reading fan comments, it is simply incredible that Xhaka is even in the squad, let alone starting. Yet Wenger kept starting him, and Emery keeps starting him, and Switzerland keep starting him. Now, managers have blind spots, managers make mistakes, etc. But do you honestly believe that your judgment is so superior to that of football professionals? Is Xhaka really that bad–or perhaps it is you who is not seeing something?
The truth is that we haven’t seen him and Torreira together for a whole match. Xhaka is a natural deep lying midfielder as he plays so well for Switzerland and Torreira a DM. We know his passing ability is excellent so in his true role we may see a better player
He’s not for sale
Bayern Munich written all over him
Shouldnt our starting-11 be something like:
Leno (considering he’s told to be better on those feet’s than Cech)
Bellerin – Mustafi – Sokratis – Monreal
Özil – Guendouzi – Torreira – Ramsey – Auba
Lacazette
Given the freedom to roam inwards for both of our fake-wingers we need Guendouzi and Torreira in the side to cover those spaces left behind.
For a more defensive side – take out Ramsey and Özil for Xhaka and Iwobi.
Based on rankings and form shouldnt our starting-11 be something like:
Leno (considering he’s told to be better on those feet’s than Cech)
Bellerin – Mustafi – Sokratis – Monreal
Özil – Guendouzi – Torreira – Ramsey – Auba
Lacazette
Given the freedom to roam inwards for both of our fake-wingers we need Guendouzi and Torreira in the side to cover those spaces left behind.
For a more defensive side – take out Ramsey and Özil for Xhaka and Iwobi.
Cech (because his poor foot work hasn’t cost us a goal but his shot stopping has saved us many)
Bellerin-Mustafi-Kos-Monreal
Torriera
Miki Ramsey AUB
Ozil
Laca
IMO of course lol.
at times it seems as if our defence is being hindered by positioning they’re supposed to follow. seems almost every time we try to play from the back, we’re trying to position ourselves as far from each other as possible, so as to create additional space methinks. but this results in players being so far away from each other that our play slows down, loses coherence and it’s so much easier to press us.
would love to see an analysis how other teams play out from the back in regards to spaces they occupy.
you are right, strangely, emery is playing weird, 4231 with 2 of the slowest midfielders unable to engage anyone infront of them. Even though Guendouzi is good kid, he is too slow and has no clue where to pass at times. and rest of them of are so far I dont know, what are they expecting? the ball will fly and fall to their feet.
None of top teams are playing this formation. its 433. with dynamic movement and quick passing.
I’ve bumped into a couple of Guardiolas passing/positioning training videos and yesterday during another attempt to play out from the back my mind jumped back to one of them and I remember sitting there watching us thinking ‘I can see how this shit barely happens to city’. But he needed time and I hope thats all we need too. Also, big part of that system is your goalies passing skills and I’m sorry but Cech cant pass a ball for shit. Watching MOTD yesterday I saw for goal of month contender Ederson assisting Aguero with a long ball. If he… Read more »
I’m I the only one who can’t see the page because it’s been blocked due to signed by a valid security certificate?
My browsers (on all devices) redirect me (via Cloudflare?) and I have to wait up to about a minute before it lets me see Arseblog News. Anyone know what the issue is? Are my devices thinking this is a dodgy website?
Did someone post a daily mail link here?
We’re still experiencing some server problems so it’s likely related to that
nah me too. Our passports are essentially categorized in the same way. a little worrying…
Ok so Özil obvisouly does not work / fancy to play on the right hand side.
And since he does not work enough defensively Emery will not play him – quite fairly to me – in the middle.
Do we necessarily have to play him?
I prefer Ramsey / Mkhitaryan at the moment.
neither ramsey nor Mkhitaryan can dictate play like ozil, go back and see the match. what did all the ramsey running yield in the first half ? nothing
I agree, Ramsey is unfortunately a bit similar to Walcott in his decision-making. He runs purposefully forward and you think “great, someone being dynamic and causing some urgency”… and then he sort of doesn’t know quite what to do and slows the play down. When Özil is on form, he can see *and* play a killer pass from almost anywhere, but Ramsey doesn’t quite have that skill, sadly.
I was thinking exactly the same thing yesterday – that he reminds me so much of Walcott. Not in the type of player, but in the sort of frustration he provokes in you as a fan. And then he goes and does something brilliant that makes you completely fall for him again. And then frustrates again. And on and on and on…
The similarity between Walcott and Ramsey is that neither is a top technical player (by the high standards of top-level professional football, of course). I always thought Walcott made intelligent runs off the ball, usually chose the right option in his passing, but too often could not get the right weight on his passes, or a good enough first touch when he received the ball. Ramsey is a little better technically, but certainly not as good a finisher as Theo, though he plays an entirely different role.
We’re splitting hairs here, but I actually thought Theo’s technique was fine when it came to finishing, it was just his decision-making was hair-brained … Ramsey is better on that front but not by much.
When Ozil is on form, you said.
Yeah because Özil clearly dictated play against Chelsea and yesterday, right?
I know this can look like another free attack toward Özil, but sincerely: am I the only one tired of his lack of desire during games?
And the attitude he’s got when he’s substituted… The man is paid millions and shows 0 class.
Actually he did dictate play in that second half yesterday. All our best attacking play and midfield control came after he started dropping deeper and demanding the ball a ton, playing forward passes to feet, in that second half. Go watch it again on the dot com (I did).
And getting limited touches as a 10 playing away at Chelsea, who are playing a midfield 3, is not the standard by which to judge whether a player should be in the side. Ramsey was also anonymous playing at 10 against City.
He did in the second half. Watch it again
And yet in that first half Ozi was even worse. Ozil may be able to dictate play, but he can’t play right wing, end of story.
“End of story.” I wish I understood football as well as you. If you have a certain idea of what a right wing must do, and a player doesn’t do that, then “he can’t play right wing.” If you think the fact that he is nominally a right wing is unimportant, then your judgment may be different. There’s this guy at Barcelona who is always cutting into the center, almost never crosses to the head of attacking teammates, never tracks back, is crap in the air, and yet they keep starting him. His name is Messi.
Manjit hit the nail on the head.
I think the performance shows us just how important quality players are. Our attack has quality players, and that shows in their play and ability to execute training moves. Our Defence lack quality and that shows in their inability to execute what they’ve been tasked to do; from the keeper to the CBs to the DM (Xhaka). I’m still of hope. I think we’ll improve significantly once Torriera and Leno get introduced, so that should up our team quality already. So it’s not like the team is playing at it’s maximum capacity. Just hope one or both of Mavro and… Read more »
Mustafi and Sokratis can’t win over this sub, can they? They were fairly solid yesterday and a lot of you are forgetting this is Sokratis’s first year in the PL and it’s a new CB partnership which needs time to grow. Not to mention two like-minded CBs playing together.
Contrast his performances so far with Otamendi’s first season or Rudiger’s first season. Miles better
Please god
Tbh I thought Xhaka was good apart from the goal. As big a talent as he is it’s Guendouzi we need to drop for Torreira. Xhaka has more defensive lapses and giveaways than he should, and he will never have the nimbleness and awareness with the ball at his feet to be the fulcrum we really want, but he mostly does the right thing. And with a responsible midfielder next to him he should improve. Guendouzi currently doesn’t have the first clue how to protect his back four tbh, and his passing/movement/ball carrying isn’t so important to us that he… Read more »
I agree about Xhaka/Torreira/Guendouzi. I was less impressed with Torreira than most people until yesterday, when I thought he was very good. I’m glad Guendouzi has gotten playing time and there is a chance he will develop into a top player, but Xhaka/Torreira makes much more sense for now. And just to reiterate something Blogs has said: Xhaka’s 45th minute pass was awful, but it should not have led to a goal. We still got players back in time to pressure the cross and defend in the box; it’s not like it led to a 3 v 2 or anything… Read more »
I agree. Xhaka drives me crazy at times but I didn’t think he had a bad game. That was a bad pass but he’s probably done that same pass hundreds of times successfully.
Cech bellerin and xhaka need to be dropped
Torreria leno and lichtensteiner need to start what is emery playing at xhaka and cech make critical mistakes over and over again and dont get dropped emery out
I can hardly think of a mistake Cech has made apart from a silly miskick and yesterday kicking the ball to Arter. Other than that he’s been an excellent keeper
I have a theory part of the reason Emery has refrained from dropping players such as Cech and Xhaka is to do with wanting keep the senior players ‘sweet’ as he brings in his philosophy. It shows a respect to the ‘old guard’ and had he dropped them from the off he risks losing the support of the influential members of the dressing room. Clearly Torreira has been blooded in slowly as a result of coming back late from the world cup and to allow him to become more accustomed. I can’t see Xhaka being dropped and think after the… Read more »
This webpage hurts my eyes and my soul
Why?
Bellerin was exposed on the right as our right-winger, on paper at least, decided or was told he had a licence to roam. Rambo the Rambler, yaddah-yaddah . . . same old, same old. Other than that what ramsey did was good but their second came down the right and I didn’t see AR8 anywhere close by. Mustafi seems to be more like the player, over the first few games, that we had hoped for, early days but I think he looks better than we’ve seen before. Still, it was encouraging overall and Torreira makes a big difference when he… Read more »
If we are going to play that way from the back we can’t start Cech, it’s that simple. I’m assuming this is something Leno is good at, so we need to see him. Cech is not suddenly going to become comfortable with the ball at his feet at his age. Or figure out to how to distribute it. His horror show affected the rest of his game too – he was so timid in the 6-18 yard area. If he doesn’t have the freedom to at least mix it up then it’s really not fair to torture him like this.… Read more »
I do not see anyone pointing sokratis. he clearly lacked the courage to pass forward and hence was playing cech again and again clearly knowing he is not comfortable with ball. Mustafi was not passing back as much as sokratis, he is the one struggling and taking cech down with him.
Long live Aubamazette!
Partial to Lacayang myself, but either works fine.
Hahah Lacayang is great.
I’d hate to be picky, ‘coz I like a good portmanteau word, but how about just dropping the ‘m’ and having . . .
‘ Aubazette ‘.
Anyway, either/or, let’s hope they continue the partnership they so clearly enjoy with each other ! Did you see their handshake and bow between them ? It warmed the heart !
Original Aubalaca works fine.
That handshake was an instant classic moment. Brilliant stuff. I
Need to sort out our defensive issues
Suggestion: perhaps we should just add an “e” to the back end of Xhaka’s first name, as his speed and quickness (both in the feet and in the brain) resemble a slab of it at times. And don’t take this as a criticism; just being descriptive. The feeling here is that if you paired him with a proper defensive midfielder like Torreira you could use his passing and vision to greatly influence our attack. Blood in Guendouzi in the Europa league and Carabao matches and as a change of pace sub in premiership games. Xhaka is such a puzzling player.… Read more »
I think the solution to Xhaka is keep him in their half, ( and just between you and me, right ? I don’t want to start an argument on here or anything . . . ) drop Rambo and play Torreira and Guendouzi, when he’s up to speed, or even for now Elneny, behind Xhaka. That way Xhaka isn’t caught out playing risky passes in our half but is instead picking out more passes like Guendouzi did, also in the first half, for Monreal ( ? ) on the left, from the halfway line. Keep Xhaka away from our box,… Read more »
I’ve also wondered about a midfield 3 of Xhaka, Torreira, & Guendouzi. They all kinda want to be deep though, so could Guendouzi carry the ball forward a bit?
Great to see Laca starting and having such an impact. He really is a solid all around player. Like Giroud he is very good at the one touch ball to runners off of him, but unlike Giroud he is also a threat to receive, it dribble and take on defenders. He has such a quick release as well. Aubameyang combined well with him and although he was a left winger most of the time did drift into the middle often as a second forward and came back through the middle to help with possession. Really like his attitude and willingness… Read more »
Yes. I think Torreira and Gendouzi would be interesting too. It seems as though lots of team rely on running in the channels and lots of quick exchanges in the middle to beat the press and alleviate pressure on the defence and keeper. I think this team needs wingers. Its a role I think Mkhitaryan could adapt to but wonder how effective players like Xhaka and Ramsey who can be slow and even Ozil would have in this dynamic. Liverpool rely on paces over the top and industry in the middle to beat the press as do Chelsea while City… Read more »
Possesion football is based on the idea that attack is the best defense. We want to bring the battle to the enemy’s territory. But football might be changing again, towards a more direct attacking style. We saw the German national team use it in Brazil in 2014, we saw Leicester in the 2015–16 season, we see it with Liverpool and Tottenham now. The offensive full backs might simply belong to an era bygone. Against fast attacks, they will unvariably return too late, leaving acres of space on the flanks. Bellerin and Monreal should be played as wings in midfield. We… Read more »
Who we would pair on the left I am not sure, given Kolasinac has his flaws but maybe it’s worth a go; however, I have wondered, since we bought him, and Bellerin’s lack of cover over the past few seasons, if Lichtsteiner in the RB and Bellering in the RW/RAM might work. That said, if Emery has seen what a few of us have seen, Hector and Miki appearing to have a good relationship building on that flank, then that might mean Hector dropping back and letting Miki carry it forward. I am not sure Miki is going to get… Read more »
There is not the slightest sign that top teams are moving away from attacking fullbacks. Did you watch what Benjamin Mendy did against us for City?
Ramsey would be the perfect CDM , kills almost every counter. I remember almost pulling it out my hair when Cech rolled one to him from their corner , Auba was at full pelt on the right. Instead, he took his customary three touches , did the 360 turn around thing and passed it back. Slow in his decision making and ponderous passing. Good energy though , never stopped running.
I noticed that Cech kept hoofing the ball forward and out of play once he had made one too many mistakes with his attempt at passing from the back. His distribution with his hands was however really good. Unai has to leave Cech on the bench if he really wants this new system to work.
It’s not just down to the Cech though. Many times when he received it there just wasn’t a pass on, it doesn’t matter what he’s like with his feet, you wouldn’t even want Messi to try to engineer a pass in those situations. Teams are pressing up on us cos they know we’re shaky as hell at it. It’s down to the outfielders to be cleverer in their movement / spacing to create the passing options – which will take a lot of time and probably additions. Alternatively, we could just go long whenever we’re under pressure – teams will… Read more »
Exactly, change it up accordingly rather than slavishly following a plan or style. Any team pressing won’t know whether to ‘ stick or twist ‘ and we can evolve our passing-it-out-from-the-back malarkey, I mean game, with generally less pressure.
Well, that’s the theory . . .
I think Laca was great again. Auba also did well on the left. Hope in the winter or the summer, we can get a top right-wing player; Ousmane Dembele would be a dream. By the way, unless if there are concerns about lasting the whole 90 minutes, I don’t see why Torriera should not start; he makes our attacks faster and is good defensively.
Good 3 points before the international break. Hope Emery can see that :
1- Ozil is not a winger and he will never be one
2- It’s better to have a technically-gifted player like Miki than having Ramsey running aimlessly up and down the pitch
3- Bellerin will never stop a cross comin into our Box. Need Lech to start games now
4- Xhaka is a big liability. Torreira is the way to go
Play Henrikh in the Ramsey role. I think we will be a lot more solid if we play front the back. Cech boots it upfield and we always lose it.
Surprised by the negative comments on Ramsey, thought he was one of our better players on the day. Not everything came off but he was provocative throughout and unlucky not to get an assist. Also he’s one of the only players in the team that actually knows how to press. Can see why Emery wants him there ahead of Ozil but unfortunately Ozil isn’t cut out for the wing at all.
A very offensive lineup so no wo der we conceded. Defensively Mustafi and Socrates looked better. For me they are still too similar though. Neither one is quite tall enough to be imposing in the premier league. I was screaming at Hector to cut out the crosses but to be fair he gets no cover. Ozil was on the right but was nowhere to be seen. Ramsey had a good work rate but didnt do that much else. We didnt seem to press much from the top so not sure if that was a tactical shift Lacazette was man of… Read more »
Do you really believe we were lucky? 72% possessio and hit post and many other chances. Cardiff only 3 shots on target and their second goal emanated from a free kick that should never have been given
Not the best performance. Felt we were again wanton in front of goal which allowed them to build confidence every time we had just scored. We could have put this to bed easier. Instead we put our rickety defense under duress time and again. As much as the defense and midfield is culpable so are the attackers. 1) Cech – There needs to be nuance to this whole play out from the back method. If in doubt, lump it long. Some of the balls played across goal were well dodgy, Cbacks like Sokratis did not help by putting Cech under… Read more »
Not a bad summary except with your thoughts on Torreira. 26 passes made accurately and an assist. However I’m totally with you about Xhaka and think they could really play well together
Anthony Taylor is not a strong referee, but comparing him to Mike Dean is unfair. Comparing anyone to Mike Dean is unfair. (Also, Taylor had the guts to give Victor Moses a second yellow for diving in an FA Cup final, so I always cut him a bit more slack than other referees.)
I really think that Xhaka had a good game and that was our 2nd best player behind the Lacazette but apparently I am in a minority. Those who don’t believe me watch a game again. I will do likewise. I don’t rate his performance based on one missplaced pass. It was a bad decision but loosing ball there doesn’t mean we should concede. He has started 54 games in a row since the last suspension. Favre played him, Wenger played him, Emery play him, Petkovič play him… Like they I also rate him highly and see what he contributes to… Read more »
Xhaka is undroppable, but only until the next transfer window. Every modern arsenal team needs a deep-lying cesc/arteta/cazorla type playmaker. Right now Xhaka appears to be our only option. These type of players protected our defence by suffocating opponents with 60% possession stats. Xhaka is the closest player to it, but he is a severe downgrade.
As he has yet to play in that position I don’t know how you can judge him. He certainly plays well in that role for Switzerland.
let’s drop xhaka and try partnering micky and torreira in CM.
cartoons are awful. what is the point?
Harsh for Xhaka for mine, and I think he gets a lot of unwarranted negativity. I agree he has moments that are brain snaps, but he is a master at getting the ball forward. A compressed team sitting deep is really hard to get the ball forward into dangerous areas, he is really good at that and I think a lot of the time we as fans don’t realise how important that is for how we play. Yes he played a ball that led to a goal but it’s one missed place pass out of the 100 or so he… Read more »