Arsenal: Cech, Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Torreira, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Iwobi.
Subs: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Guendouzi, Suarez, Ramsey, Nketiah
—
Arsenal face an uphill task to stay in Europe after 3-1 win defeat to Rennes in the Europa League this evening, which also saw Sokratis sent off and thus suspended for the second leg.
Unai Emery made three changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Sp*rs last weekend Petr Cech, Lucas Torreira, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came in for Bernd Leno, Matteo Guendouzi, Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette.
The Gunners got off to the perfect start, going ahead in the 4th minute through Alex Iwobi. The ball was worked it down the left, Monreal fed the Nigerian who stepped into the box and put in a low cross which evaded everyone and crept in at the far post. 0-1.
Iwobi then turned provider, creating a good chance for Torreira to which the keeper was equal, while the home side looked for an equaliser from a 35 yard free kick which sailed over the bar. Grenier shot wide after Koscielny defended a free kick, and Iwobi saw a good cross palmed away after a great Ozil pass.
Arsenal worked a lovely free kick in the 30th minute with Ozil and Monreal then pulling the ball back, it fell for Mustafi in the box and he drilled a low shot not far wide of the far post.
Sokratis picked up a yellow card for a foul on Ben Arfa which presented the Ligue 1 outfit with a free kick just outside the D, and the former PSG man forced a good save from Cech to deny him the equaliser. Hunou then shot over the bar, Bourigeaud was booked for a foul on Torreira who was taking quite a kicking from the home side, and Koscielny’s defending prevented Ben Arfa a sight of goal when he beat two men in our box.
The game took a turn in the 41st minute though, when Sokratis was booked again – harshly as replays showed – and sent off for a foul on Sarr. It presented Rennes with a free kick just outside the box, Bourigeaud took it, it hit the wall, rebounded to him and he smashed it into the top corner to make it 1-1.
There was a chance to respond quickly when Ozil found space in the box and then found Aubameyang, but not for the first time the striker’s touch was poor and he was dispossessed, and then Mkhitaryan fired over.
It was a half which left Unai Emery with plenty to ponder at the break and needing to bring on a defender to fill the gap left by Sokratis, the manager surprisingly stuck with the makeshift solution he ended the first period with and kept Mkhitaryan at right-back.
Bourigeaud curled a cross-shot just wide as Rennes dominated with the extra man, and the goalscorer had a great sight of goal but could only fire his shot straight at Cech from the penalty spot. It prompted Emery into a 52nd minute change, bringing on Guendouzi for Iwobi, but French side remained dangerous.
Sarr got down their right, drove beyond Monreal, and his low cross deflected away off Koscielny with players scrambling around our box. Bourigeaud and Sarr both tested Cech as they took advantage of the extra man, and the winger went down in our box looking for a penalty but the referee and his assistant waved the claims away.
Xhaka got booked for a foul which presented Ben Arfa with another free kick chance, but once more Cech was equal to his goalbound effort. More last ditch defending was required to stop Ben Arfa’s danger and eventually the pressure told and Rennes went ahead. A poor shot fell for the right back, we were too slow to close him down, the cross came in, deflected off Monreal and looped over Cech. 2-1.
We tried to respond, Ozil shooting at the keeper with his right foot after being set up by Xhaka. Cech had to make another save from Ben Arfa before Ramsey replaced Ozil in the 69th minute, and by the 71st minute the home side had had 17 attempts on goal – 13 of them after the red card.
Emery made his final change when Kolasinac replaced the ineffective Aubameyang in the 79th minute. The striker didn’t look happy but his performance didn’t merit much else. Xhaka gave away another free kick and was perhaps lucky to avoid a second yellow, and as the game headed towards the 90th minute the task for the second leg was made even more difficult when they scored again.
Arsenal lost the ball down on our left, Rennes switched it and broke down their left hand side, a cross from deep found Sarr unmarked at the back post and he planted a header beyond Cech. 3-1.
It leaves the Gunners with a lot to do in the second leg.
How Sokratis can give a MOTM performance four days and then today turn into Mustafi in disguise really is beyond me.
Big up Mkhi though. Even at RB the guy was fully committed throughout.
Horrible game, just horrible.
He went full Mustafi
Seems like that’s a thing now
Always was. Had to shake it up to protect people’s feelings.
Ironically (overused word) Mustafi was very good today–one bad pass, but it came from exhaustion when everyone was doing that. Kind of weird when you concede three to Rennes that Cech, Koscielny, and Mustafi played well.
Exactly.
Some people need to pull their heads put 9f rheir arse.
Mustafi did not cost us at BHA, Soton away or West Ham.
Certainly did well today.
This isn’t the first time Sokratis has taken undue risk.
They are all guilty of it.
Definitely right that they are all guilty. Mustafi is just the worst and is shit. He had a decent game today and that proves what exactly?
Stop trying to use theses examples to prove that Mustafi, Xhaxa and whoever else you think the fans go after have not been mostly shit since they arrived. Some players like Monreal have actually had good SEASONS, not a decent game here and there.
StatDNA buys
He went full Sokratis.
Mustafi didn’t do anything wrong. He got up from two hard challenges. Almost scored.
Sokratis again practising Greco-Roman wrestling in the box.
Although I didn’t see the game: I fully agree.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the time Sokratis is a decend CB.
But how many times did he give away a needless freekick that did cost us already? He really needs to stop doing that.
(I’m not talking about the second booking – this was a really shitty call from the ref)
Stinker from the while team but the tie is not beyond us. More than Sokratis, I thought Monreal had a very poor game. Got roasted all night by that guy Saha, scored an own goal and threw some inexplicable tantrum towards the end which resulted in their third.
Hope we turn it around against United and beat Rennes a week from now. COYG.
As I’ve mentioned many times, some players are bigged up for more than they are.
Others get undue over criticism.
Monreal has been caught before too high up field and out of position.
It’s not the first time by Amy stretch of the imagination except in some people’s minds
Your optimism amazes me. Blind loyalty and false pretense takes us nowhere. Lets call.out the underachievers and make thwm sit up.
We can still win at home and qualify but
1. f*** FA, 5 matches in 15 days (I know other PL teams are playing same but still)
2. Why take Iwobi out when he was the best threat going forward?
3. Papa and Laca out for next match
You are joking aren’t you? There was nothing wrong with Soks performance other than the cheating bastards were mugging off the ref!
Oh and Mhiki was back to his worse, blazing over when he should have done a lot better. What was Emery thinking moving him to RB? Ben Arfa was going past him like he wasn’t there!
Auba’s performance was the worse I seen from him, hangover from the penalty miss?
Pissed off!
He had Koscielny covering. We need to be more cynical.
Anything in the box has to be handled with white gloves these days, not like a bull in the China shop.
It will and has cost us..again.
Neither card should have been given. Ref was poor.
The first one, yes. The second, no way. Sarr hooked Sokratis’ arm and fell.
We should expect poor reffing.
And we need to adjust to that or we will keep being punished.
That second yellow was a joke. The guy elbowed him and he got sent off. Hardly to blame for that one and until then he had a pretty solid game.
Are people seriously gonna hang Sokratis out to dry? The first two challenges were ambiguous but the third was a blatant dive. At most he deserved a single yellow. The only person on the pitch that screwed us was the ref, again. Last night the officials were desperately trying to give United a route back, and low and behold they eventually found something using VAR. Tonight the fans made the ref rethink so many times that after 20mins all he did was go off their reaction. Sarr put his hand on Sokratis, who in response brushed it off, Sarr then… Read more »
I’m looking forward to VAR in the PL, I’m 95% certain we’ll be 10points a season better off, then we’ll have the pleasure of muted (or neutered, whatever) contributions from Owen, Savage and all the other PL past underachievers.
Agreed. What’s the point of VAR if you dont use it? Definitely not a second yellow. How do United always get the rub and we always get the shit?
You forgot the fact that Vertonghen was at least 5 Meters in the box when Auba took the pen and he was the guy who cleared the rebound. Something he wouldn’t have had a chance to, if he hadn’t started way to early. We’re really not having a good time in terms of decisions. But today it was more than that. Emery’s decisions were poor and almost to a man the players were poor too. Xhaka had one of these days were he created a handful of chances for the opponent, Torreira is really far away from his best at… Read more »
@Berlingoon You’re totally right, I didn’t even mention Vertonghen, that was another example of woeful officiating. But must confess, I thought we were doing fine before the sending off, I honestly don’t think we were bad. It’s still fledgling times and we know it takes us a while to get into the game (not justifying that, just simply drawing attention to it). Had we not had Sokratis sent off I reckon we would have really taken them to town in the second half (0-3 easy), Ben Arfa was annonimous until the red, and the rest looked lost on the big… Read more »
We’ve played ok until the red card although Rennes have been building momentum prior to that already. But even if the red card was harsh – which it was – and even if Emery’s decisions didn’t help at all – which they don’t – the way we played the second half was embarrassing. No player was able to slow the game down a bit, take control, bring a bit of structure to our game or anything. We looked like 9 headless chickens.
@Berlingoon Yup, it was worrisome how much we capitulated. Regardless of whatever anyone says we had a team of Premier League starters out there, regardless of who was in the dug out there’s little excuse as to how they all seemingly forgot how to play professional football. We still lack a few headstrong players, one’s who can control a game and those around them. I know they were struggling in their later seasons but we do miss someone with Mertesacker/Arteta’s ability to reign the team back in, focus on damage limitations, and if the opportunity sparks, find a counter. The… Read more »
You could see that the Rennes players were going to fall over at every opportunity and perform some ‘B movie’ acting to exaggerate the perceived offence. And that’s why Sokratis was living very dangerously. Sure, that was a harsh sending off but the ref was playing a homer and you have to be smarter. Don’t give the ref the opportunity!
and what about Auba being incorrectly called for offside while clean through on goal before the red card…surely Auba would have made it 2-0 for the Arsenal, made the game safe and two away goals would have been handy…
Couldn’t agree more, it’s no coincidence that while we were being shafted by the refs in the nld, Southampton were being denied a penalty against yanited. I just hope that when VAR is eventually implemented they don’t manage to manipulate it, remember we are the only team to have goal line technology overruled because they didn’t replay the bit when the ball went over the line but disallowed a good goal because they adjudged the system to have failed. I don’t trust any of the bastards.
Some guys have all the luck and that’s ManU! We barely ever.
The hit-and-miss performances are a clear indication that we don’t have a good squad.
Normally I wouldn’t agree with you and I’m only partly agreeing because partly you are right. I see our inconsistency as part of the evolution process that is taking place with a new coach who has been with us a mere 7 months give or take.
Some of our players have what it takes to play the way Emery wants and some don’t. That doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t good players but they don’t seem to be able to play well enough on a regular basis to make us fans feel comfortable and give Emery the results he deserves.
Watch the replay of the ‘2nd yellow’ in super slow-mo… the FIRST contact is their striker hooking his elbow into Sok’s face in order to get half a stride ahead of him. Sok then peels off immediately after being struck and the striker’s offending elbow – BECAUSE he’s had it in Sok’s face (!) gets slightly (ever so slightly) hooked as Sok spins away. But that has NO bearing on him falling as he then takes two full strides before realising he’s pushed the ball too far ahead and then miraculously throws up his arms and himself to the ground.… Read more »
Poor from the team and manager tonight. All three substitutions were poor and the players were sloppy and undisciplined
That’s the Arsenal we all know and love
Just when I thought we were hitting a decent run of form we cook up this steaming hot turd of a performance. Classic Arsenal.
It’s what we do
That’s the thing about Arsenal
Isn’t it why we love them? Who wants to support a team that wins all the time?
On a serious note this result is disappointing but not totally unexpected. Rennes beat Everton 4-1 in preseason. Also if you watched them dispatch Real Betis they were always going to be challenging opponents. Now we need an Emery masterclass in the home Leg and some of our players need to grow a pair.
It was 1-1 away and we were down to ten men. He could have played with a back 3 of Mustafi, Koscielny and Monreal and Kolasinac and Maitland Niles as wing backs. He could have played Mustafi as right back, Kosc and Nacho in central defense and Kolasinac as left back. Instead he played Mikhitaryan as right back for 50 minutes although it was plain to see that this won’t work at halftime. He kept Özil on until the 70th minute although is was obvious that with one man down and away from home this won’t be a game for… Read more »
Totally agreed on Emery not making the smart defensive subs, and all the combinations/possibilities you list above were obvious to everyone but Emery. It was obvious that Saar had too much pace for Monreal in a wide open game like today, and Kolasinac should at the very least have been sent on to protect Monreal, instead Kolasinac was playing striker along side Ramsey and switching wing. Finally, anyone else notice how Ramsey was busting his arse off to get back on the third goal (almost got there in time too) running past all the other Arsenal players jogging back (Guendouzi… Read more »
Still trying to understand why sub Kola on, especially after the 3rd goal.
I’ll get down voted, but I’m tired of Ozil – he’s so fucking inconstant: world class to a ghost playmaker in a matter of days.
Mesut made some excellent through balls which Auba should have been able to do something with, but he didn’t because he’s badly off form. He looks like he could do with a couple of games on the bench but with Danny injured and Laca suspended for the next game we have no option but to keep playing him and hope he comes right.
Could you do better? It’s easy to sit on your sofa or your soapbox and criticise but looking at the team he put out it was more than capable of beating a team that is equivalent to the two teams we beat recently.
Hideous green strip aside, our mentality away from home is still very shaky. Also consider that some of the substitutions may have been made with Sunday in mind and after tonight’s result that game is now bigger than ever.
Those yellows were ‘soft’ but I can certainly see why they were given. What annoys me is that no other ‘soft’ yellows were given. VAR will not help with inconsistent referees.
Saying that, Sokratis was daft.
Arsenal were poor. Shocking. Just horrible.
Rennes took advantage.
Well played Rennes.
Also, you know it is bad when it is Mustafi shouting at everyone to keep their heads.
He does that every time we concede a goal
Cos orts his fault we conceded a needless penalty today?
Wake up.
he does that to look like he knows what hes doing…
Better he shouts to wake our players up ten the stupor we were in before.
Didnt seem to work..
It is utterly mystifying how the rotational fouls on Torreira went unpunished.
You can see why a yellow was given to an Arsenal player because the Rennes player pulled him, knocking him off balance, then fell? Or why the Arsenal player curled on the ground and the Rennes player fell over him.
Really?!
I’d understand if you said that getting a free kick would have been soft but understandable but yellow cards for those?! Next you’ll be saying Aubameyang was offside…
In real time, it looked like a cynical foul on the edge of the box against a player about to blow right past him. Please spare us the BS that Sokratis didnt have a brainfart.
I agree, it did look like that in real time.
But replays showed he conned the ref…
And VAR should have ruled it out, returned Sokratis to the field, and booked the Rennes player.
Well played Rennes?
I will NEVER congratulate an opponent for conning the ref.
That was disgusting.
I would never want to win in that way.
Utterly dense.
We can still win at home and qualify but
1. f*** FA, 5 matches in 15 days (I know other PL teams are playing same but still)
2. Why take Iwobi out when he was the best threat going forward?
3. Papa and Laca out for next match
Shocking performance
Redemption on Sunday please!
Absolutely fucking woeful performance. I thought after the last three results, especially against the spuds, we had turned a corner and I felt we were looking stronger. This was awful though. Auba was shockingly bad. Really disappointing.
Thanks Sokratis, you’ve probably just knocked us out. Good stuff.
You mean thanks ref
To be fair, these things will happen.
How we respond is critical. Even with 10 men we needed to manage the game better.
What about Laca’s red card? Don’t get me wrong I love Laca but his petulance got him suspended for 3 matches.
Having said that, picking on our players doesn’t help.
Laca would not be to blame at all in case we were eliminated by Rennes next week, because he didn’t take part in any of the 2 games. I agree he would have been useful today, but we were allowed to start with 11 players, as we will be in the return leg. If we don’t find 11 players in our squad who can eliminate Rennes over 2 legs, but would depend on a single player like Laca being available to achieve that, our problems would be far bigger than they already are.
Is there an IamMustafi movement in Arsenal? This was beyond bad. Unai makes defensive subs and suddenly everyone decides to attack. Purely brainless. That was PSG banter level.
Really didn’t get the substitutions tonight. Felt like Emery lost his head too.
Yeah Guendouzi was absolutely useless and so was Kolasinac. Terrible mentality
And Ramsey.
I think I understood the idea of each of the substitutions–but none of them worked. Guendouzi for Iwobi was to shore up the middle of the pitch and help Mkhitaryan, but Guendouzi just increased the pressure on us by constantly giving away possession very cheaply. Ramsey for Ozil, I assume, was basically for fresh legs–Ozil had run so much that he could no longer pose an attacking threat. But Ramsey never looked like he could link the play together as Ozil had earlier–in fairness, playing a man down always made that unlikely. Aibameyang too was for fresh legs, but that… Read more »
Man u are right, ozil going off yet he was creating the chances just needed a striker to finish off those chances maybe nketiah.but why retain the striker from going out on loan yet you re not going to play him.
What did you expect Emery to do you numpty? If he threw on Suarez or Nketiah, he would’ve been crucified
Where’s the experienced player getting hold of the others and making the point that 2-1 away from home, 10 men for over a half, isn’t a bad result?
Nowhere
Don’t think i’ve worded that comment particularly well! Well done anyone who understands what i’m trying to say!
Some people prefer to blame Mustafi for trying to rally the troops.
Just SHUT UP about Mustafi FFS. The guy is shit but he was half decent today.
There it was, MONREAL.
Nah. Push forward and try to win the game on a throw in in the last minutes.
Manager didn’t help. Why keep Mkhitaryan at right back instead of bringing on AMN? Why not go back 5?
He doesn’t trust AMN…there I’ve said it!
3rd goal is a bit Monreal’s fault…. complaining up the pitch after loosing the ball instead of tracking back
More than a bit–the guy who scored was unmarked.
Did nobody see Guendouzi let him run by?, Ramses did, watch him turn around and give douzi the arms raised “what the fuck” stare.
Guendouzi is overrated. Shave him bald.
We had an experienced player doing the shouting, it was Mustafi…that was the problem.
That guy had been sent off already.
For fucks sake! Why are we always creating a hill for ourselves? When will this lose in the first leg and crash out because we couldn’t get the goal needed to qualify in the second leg.
Should just give this loser cup with crap refereeing. No point playing every mid week to be given light reds and yellows like Laca and Papa.
We’ll still beat them to pieces next week
“Loser cup”. We fit right in.
And some people preferred we were out of top 4 when Wenger was in charge so we could win the europa.
Comeuppance
They weren’t soft yellows and lacas was certainly not a soft red
It was contextually.
The yellows were considering the second should have been a foul the opposing way.
We should put in a cheeky offer for Solsjkaer over the summer
4.000.000+1?
Yeah – since Theo left we’ve needed a speedy right winger
Solskaers getting a shit-ton of good fortune and personal help from ferguson and mike phelan. Not convinced after 2 months I’m afraid.
Wow you pretty much wrote what I just tried to write but got moderated for…Thank you!
Nonsense. The guy was perhaps the fourth best manager in the Norwegian league, and really must be rubbing his eyes to believe his luck.
Let’s get the best manager in the Norwegian league!
As a player? As a manager he has Mike Phelan and Sir Alex helping him behind the scenes…but (shush) don’t tell anyone!
Solskjær has had unbelievable luck. If things even out over time, which they have a tendency of doing, he is in for some really rocky terrain. Hopefully, it starts Sunday.
I don’t think they did the basics. They were not good at making themselves playable, leaving teammates to attempt difficult passes in narrow positions. They were slow and a little dopey, particularly in the second half. We have a couple of players that simply do not hold the standard required. This was not bad luck, it was not good at all.
Why can’t we pass the ball accurately? Aubs was the worst offender in the first 35 mins imo.
Hits my big criticism of him. He does little to protect the ball.
Laca better in that respect.
Aubameyang is pretty average honestly. Not an elite player.
You don’t score as many goals as Auba has and be just avg lol wtf
He may not be elite but that’s not what arsenal paid for. They paid for a good striker notch below elite imo. He is what he is a finished product with no upside that’s why he cost what he did. What strikers are better than him that cost less that were or are available for transfer? Anyone striker in his range are all flawed or you are buying on huge potential. Get a grip
The homeless goblins safely dispatch the current German leaders, United overcome a 2 goal home defeat to beat the French champions while we get spanked a team that currently sits 10th in Ligue 1. Says it all really. Absolutely pathetic.
Seriously! I eagerly await the day I wake up from this bizarro world. :/
Yeah but Manure had 12 men!
But that tells you and I and sadly the rest of the world where we are right now as a team. We’re on a hiding to nothing because even if we were in the CL we would probably have lost to Bayern or some other team.
I have no idea how the rest of the season will go, but putting our all into getting top 4 looks more important than ever right now.
Fucking gutless performance, the fact that the guy who actually bother to track back for their 3rd won’t even be here next season is really pathetic.
A real bad taste after this one. Dreary night, Aubameyang looking dejected on the bench, Monreal starting to really look like slowing down, Xhaka more silly mistakes, Iwobi more or less anonymous throughout. I can see us scraping by on a 2-0 next week, but it won’t be easy. Rennes will have a real belief right now. Sarr and Ben Arfa were giving our back line nightmares all game, and that skinny kid who scored is supposedly an Arsenal fan and played well too.
wow, huge changes now we’ve got a new manager…..
Owen chose to ignore Sarr’s pull on Sokratis, because he couldn’t wait to get stuck in to Sokratis. “Glittering career”, international goals, who cares. He’s the kind of useless tool that a first year apprentice would reject for being too shoddy. Martin Keown did extremely well not to transform into HulKeown and boot the little weasel right in his Hipgrave. (No offence intended to Lynsey Hipgrave, she’s a decent host). Now, it’s career advisor time. The referee clearly loves cards, so I’m thinking he’d be better off pursuing employment as a Vegas croupier. Failing that, how about one of those… Read more »
I don’t know if it’s tiredness kicking in but we were sloppy. Hopefully we wipe the floor with them at home. Diving cunts.
The team’s performance was nearly worse than your sister.
Relax, people. It’s a “Parks And Recreation” running joke.
I would have said Jean ralphios sister!
We are a bang average team. We made rennes look like the galacticos. Very hard to watch.
I think bang average is unfair. As said previously we are in transition. We must try not to forget that. When we play well and win games everyone gets excited and thinks we’re the finished article, but we are nowhere near it. Early season I thought we could win the League, then I thought definitely top 4, possibly even 3rd. Now I suspect we will finish 5th but at worst 6th and with some of the players that is probably about right, after all most of the players we have finished 6th last season and even though Emery has tried… Read more »
It has been a long time since i’v cried but today’s game made me cry after a while , to be honest i have quite a shitty life at the moment so my only hope for a little happiness was with Arsenal and that’s gone too , anyway here is my honest opinion of the match : We should have scored more than one at the beginning , Cech gave up possession many times at the first half and that was one of the reasons for their counter attack. Refferee was a disgrace , their players were savage in the… Read more »
What’s Kos ever done to you? He’s been pretty good since he came back.
Down Votes !!! Anyway i’m done with this site.
Up-voted! Stay!
What’s more important for me is the fact that you’re having a tough period personally and I can’t help but commiserate with you on that. I’ve been there before – really tough times when Arsenal’s games were my only source of distraction/happiness. Hang in there man, the storm will pass. Match details can rest for now.
Yikes
I thought at 2-1 that it was an ok result against an inspired Rennes and with the given circumstances of playing 10 men for 50 min. I felt we were lucky not to play an even better team because then Arsenal would have been slaughtered. But then that 3-1 goal came, which was so silly… losing ball for 3245th time (Auba horrendous tonight) and Monreal just standing there waving his arms and Guendouzi just jogging back and didn’t look around for a player to follow.. heck Ramsey saw the danger from forward-position and tried his best. Absolute shitshow of 20… Read more »
Good point about Guendouzi. In that sequence of play, there was a touch of the Denilsons about his positional awareness and lack of desire to get goal side.
It might be Europa league yes exiting, if we don’t get our shit together next week.
Guendouzi was woeful. He should have had plenty of legs to mark that runner, but didn’t. And his passing (along with everyone else’s in the 2nd half) was so poor.
As I mentioned some time before, we need to keep our eye on the league.
It is our best chance.
Knock out competitions always carry risk.
There is better control in the league but we are up against it.
United will be a tough ask given our Attention Deficit Disorder.
We don’t need Mustafi to fuck things up.
you keep saying ‘as I mentioned’ as if anyone is supposed to pay any attention to you
Why did we have half of our team up in their peno box when we’re trying to hold on to 2-1?…
Shit. All to do next week. We’re in serious, serious trouble.
Can Zidane takeover at Arsenal
Benitez
Why on earth would he want the job?! No prospects for improvement relative to other clubs in the same league, even.
“Champions League,” Josh K.? You’re dreaming. I’ve woken up.
Yes but with 200M budget
Zidane is unproven and this is exactly what we don’t need. Fans don’t have to call for a sacking everyone we lose.
ZZ Unproven? Wtf he manage to get his club to win 3 CL not EL in a row. Not easy, just ask PSG pep since he’s left Barca, klopp etc etc
He may not be perfect but I doubt he is unproven
I’m going to assume you’re joking right? Did you see the players that Zidane had to manage? I mean I know Unai had Neymar etc but none of them wanted to play his way and did as they pleased and Tuchel is probably, well definitely, finding out the same thing. Unai has done a good job so far. The trouble is that “we” expect so called lesser teams to just lie down for us because we’re the mighty Arsenal. Well we aren’t at the moment are we? Do I think we can win next week…I honestly don’t know. Unai managed… Read more »
Can he play center half?
First season under Emery so far:
Premier League: 5th, likely going to 6th once Chelski plays its game
Europa League (where our coach was supposedly a specialist): 90 minutes till possible elimination
FA Cup: eliminated
League Cup: eliminated
Good work, everyone from Kroenske on down. Maybe the first Arteta season would have not been so bad after all?
What’s frustrating is the inconsistency. Our home record is excellent, especially in the PL. But away from the Grove we’ve been awful all season. In European football you can’t hope to pull it back at home all the time. A GG team would have shut up shop at half time and got away with a 1-1 draw. We were too weak.
You don’t have to watch you know….or you could just support the team. Supporting a team doesn’t come with any guarantees. Writing off the coach because the team lost 3 -1 away is ridiculous. PSG thought they were into the quarter finals because they scored 2 away goals, but Man Utd taught them differently. If we hadn’t got the away goal then I would be more pessimistic.
It’s not an either-or situation, you know. We’re here because we’re Arsenal fans, not because we are Emery fans. Make all the excuses (not his team, ref this ref that, Manure miracle happens every week, losing to BATE and Rennes are normal etc) all you want, but ultimately Unai will be judged by his results.
By all accounts, Solari is well loved by everyone at Madrid too. Look what happened.
I’m starting to hate this club
I assume you are talking about Stade Rennais?
2-1 was safe
Depressing and scary now
Nothing is safe in a competition like this.
What a pile of dogshit. Almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong. For the first half hour we were the better side and were cruising. Then brainless Sokratis go himself sent off and that changed everything. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t see just what Emery was trying to do with his substitutions: nothing was done to counter that big quick player on their right side. At the end he scored their killer goal. We can still go through but I don’t think we will. We can’t keep a clean sheet so we’ll have to score at least 3… Read more »
Brighton and Bournemouth beat us last season…so I take it your comments are ironic?
Not over two legs.
Shit result. I wish we kept it 1-2. Then do them over at the Emirates.
2-1…
in a week when the rest of the prep have done well in europe we turn up and do that. shocking, embarrassing and a massive sign of where we are right now.
this team lacks all the consistency as it did under wenger, not sure if its inbread or what but its so frustrating.
An inbread baguette wee wee. Would have taken 1-2 but that last goal. WTF? Rennes will be toast next week … Laca will hit 4.
Laca isn’t playing next week…
Laca is out next week too mate. 3 game ban.
I am afraid he won’t … as he is still suspended. 🙁
Laca can’t play next week, we missed him badly tonight because Auba was awful and we had no replacement.
Laca is still suspended next week according to BBC … after the cat woke me at 4.30am this day is shaping as a complete shit-burger.
“Consistency under Wenger”???
You must have a very short term memory. Just last season we couldn’t win more than a handful away games but were in the top 2 for home results. This season so far just continues down that road but with some better away results, tonight was terrible but our home form will see us through.
Harsh sending off (in my opinion). Second Rennes goal G should have closed him down quicker. One player that concerns me is Auba. Yes he is quick and scores goal BUT his hold-up play, link play and touch leaves a lot to be desired. When he is not scoring his contribution is negligble. Can also be very casual ( including penalty taking). Known in Germany as a play boy and not committed professional. Bergkamp’s touch came from loads of practise and complete professionalism and dedication. Sorry, controversial view but in my view Auba is good but world class? – no… Read more »
World class is thrown around to easily. No one should have mistaken auba as world class striker. He definitely is a notch below. He has his strengths and weaknesses. We wouldn’t be able to afford a world class striker I’m this day in age. I don’t think we can afford any world class players at any position. We can only hope to acquire as many good players and high ceiling players as possible.
What world class striker is going To only cost 55m?
Wish I could just lambast the team, but I felt they were a bunch of diving twats. Hopefully we can turn it around next week.
We don’t belong in the Champions League.
Rennes were dirty cheating bastards and the pathetic ref fell for it all game. No way would they have won that game if we had not have gone down to ten men. Looking at the replay I believe he actually fouled Sok not the other way around.
Just like the manure PSG game yesterday, disgusting refereeing standards in European competitions.
2-0 at home will be good enough with the away goal.
Yeah, because we’re so good at conceding 0 goals…
A doddle… I mean, look at all our home clean sheets already this season
Right when I thought we started to play well, we did the most Arsenal of things! I just shudder at the thought of the game on Sunday, though. United’s confidence will be sky high and we, on the other hand……
We did it without Mustafi.
No surprise since we have done it before without him.
I know we’ll win next week but I just don’t see us keeping a clean sheet at home. Can we score 4+ goals against them? I just don’t think we can.
Have to have balls and people taking responsibility in the big moments. Had so many chances prior to the sending off. Both yellows were harsh but incredibly stupid decisions from Sokratis. Auba was horrendous individually and for the team where he refused to hold the ball up and killed every attack. Emeys decision to keep him and Ozil on while Mhki played Rb was ridiculous. This result is somewhere between a high level of incompetence and eveything that can go wrong going wrong. Not worried yet though. When we have a clear goal to focus on we seem better for… Read more »
It won’t be us if we don’t do it the hard way.
We will need to shut them out home game.
Tough ask.
If anything Iwobi was the one who keeps ball for us. Taking him off exposed Monreal’s shortcomings.
If it worked than Unai is a tactical genius lol
Have to ask, what has Emery fixed exactly? Had a man sent off in what, 3 out of last 4 matches? The whole is less than the sum of its parts. Over everything happening on the pitch this season, there is the fact that with this owner, board, and executive group, this club is going nowhere. It has been overtaken by better-funded and better run rivals in it’s own league, never mind the top clubs in Europe. Kroenke’s ownership is exactly as advertised and exactly what some warned it would be. The salad days are gone and it doesn’t look… Read more »
Wolves, Leeds next season, Everton if they get their act together will be our new peers smh we are definitely with this ownerships self sustaining mantra are heading towards second class in the PL
We really don’t travel. Something must have happened. They all looked completely off like there was a falling out right before the game started.
The optimistic part of me says Emery will use this to adjust and motivate the squad for the United game. The pessimist says that a reserve United side beat PSG in Paris and will destroy us 6-1 riding that high.
Last sentence: not down the road. No way no how. Our home record is too good. Gives us a big boost, it shouldn’t do but it does.
Agreed there may have been some discord pre-match. Maybe the hotel sabotaged their sleep for the night?
I think everybody is being pretty dam harsh on Sokratis. The second yellow was as soft as they come. If anything the Rennes players fouled him and then took a massive dive. Not much Sokratis can do if the ref is a fucking moron. So jostling and running next to a player now if a yellow card offence?
Why can’t we just have a cosy game with no need for my heart rate to hit 100? I miss the days of beating teams 4,5,6 nil in the Champions League.
Now we’re losing 3-1 to teams in the bottom half of the French League with fat ex Newcastle players.
What happened to AMN being used in midfield.is abetter box to box midfielder than the shaggy haired guy, remember the Manu game last season.
Emery does want ozil because he doesn’t work hard enough,but Auba sucks totally no effort always in second gear.
There is no way we are winning the Europa League if we cannot get a result away from home! This team has mental/psychological problems playing away from home. One of the worst performances I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t even keep the ball for a minute without giving it away. Poor attitude and body language from ALL players bar Mkhitaryan and Torreira. This team needs to be dismantled and built over from scratch. Absolutely poor
Rennes are a bunch of divey, writhing actresses and the ref bought it every time. We are still incredibly naive when we go to Europe and get sucked into their trickery. We’re not alone in this as most English teams struggle with all the bullshit, but you’d think that with all the practice we’ve had we’d have learned by now. They will serial foul and get away with it every time, their players will roll around like they’ve been shot at every opportunity, their fans will influence the referees every decision. We were poor tonight, our passing was the worst… Read more »