Arsenal well and truly Arsenal-ed it against Brighton at the Emirates this afternoon. The final home game of the season ended in huge disappointment, a 1-1 draw with Brighton means top four is barely possible, and it continued a dismal run of form in which our only win from six games has been against 10 man Watford.
It’s a poor reflection on Unai Emery and his players, and although the Europa League still provides a chance for genuine success this season, our Premier League performances are etched into the memory in a ‘Oh, I can’t ever forget seeing this because it’s so awful’ kind of way.
Read the Arsenal 1-1 Brighton match report and see the goals here
Here’s how the players rated this afternoon.
Ratings
The ratings are now hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above Bernd Leno. Also, give the ratings a few seconds to load.
I miss the days when Alex Song was our playmaker in chief
I’ve said this elsewhere, but I don’t care, I’ll say it here again .. That was shittiest final home performance I’ve ever seen. Cech, Welbz and Rambo deserved a better farewell. I’m profoundly embarrassed at the level to which our once great club has come down, that of a mediocre team punching well above its weight. But on the bright side, I’m thankful for the auditions by some of these fucking twats to show they’re not good enough. If ever we needed a wake up call to shake things up, what better day than our last home game ! Now… Read more »
“Stan fucking Kroenke” did not buy this club to spend money; he bought it to make money. He’s warming his hands at the currency bonfire Man U has made, and has no desire to try to outspend Sheik Mansour. Arsenal may get back to what you call elite level, but not with Kroenke money. Sorry. In the meantime, I hope they can get into the ECL, and will support them in Europe at whatever level, as long as they can keep getting there. Let’s not feel too sorry for ourselves, and spare a moment to sympathize with Notts County, which… Read more »
People need to realise here… the Champions League will make quite literally zero difference to us. We will still be the same shit team. It wont suddenly cause us to make a load of top class signings for big money. The Champions League is just for our collective sanity — nothing else. The extra revenue generated from being in that competition will just be going straight into the bank account to never be seen again. Its not going to change our fortunes. With the Kroenkes in charge, if we mange to jam our way into the UCL, I guarantee we… Read more »
As for the player ratings — large portions of those lads can honestly all fuck off — to name a few: Xhaka Mustafi Lichtsteiner Mkhitaryan Iwobi They all need carting off. We need to buy a top drawer centre mid to partner Torriera. We need to buy probably two centre halves — maybe even an auxiliary defender that is competent in either fullback position too. We need to buy two decent wide players on both sides that can contribute to at least 10-15 goals each a season, and guys that also have some sort of final product other than just… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more with all of the above.
Stan is one letter away from satan
And one letter away from cult status!
Arsenal has been a self sustaining club long before Kronke, thus we shouldn’t need his money to have funds to invest. However, the new era has City, Utd, Chelsea, and Liverpool who all have owners willing to spend more than their club earns, or find creative business engagements to get around financial fair play. Top 4 will never be guaranteed while we have 4 clubs with bigger pockets.
Kroenke’s/Arsenal’s pockets are almost as deep as Chelsea’s, Liverpool’s and United’s but there is no way on God’s earth that Kroenke will ever spend the money needed for the club to compete against the other top clubs. Make no mistake – Kroenke will not be losing a wink of sleep over the team’s recent performances. His priority will be to reduce the wage bill next season so he can increase the value of the club and thus pile on ore debt – not revitalise the team with the kind of signings Arsenal needs to be competitive in 2019/20 and beyond.
Should have had the send offs, partiularly Ramsey, off before the game. Terrible. Tears from Ramsey meanwhile half the team couldn’t be bothered. Please sell Xhaka. And what’s the point of Ozil.
Wow…no down votes from the Ozil fans. Maybe they are busy trying to comfort him on Instagram.
Found them!
Ozils biggest problem is the fact we are far too shit for him. He’s never been a player that can do it all on his own. That’s never been his gig. His USP has always been — he is the guy that threads that killer ball through the eye of a needle to the player ‘that can do it all on his own.’ His one unique ability is the final ball. In essence, Ozil at Arsenal is like having a sequential racing gearbox, in a really shit fucking car. To get the best out of the gearbox, you still need… Read more »
Gee, you’re a real fucking hero.
What you’re seeing is downvotes for being a twat.
-ozil neutral, and very tired of idiots needlessly starting shit within their own support.
No….they support Ozil. Even at the expense of Arsenal and it irks me. If calling them out is being a twat then I wear the badge proudly.
I guarantee at least half the downvotes are from those who thought your comment totally unnecessary. Mine was.
Starting a conflict in a room that didn’t have one is nothing I’d be proud of.
No conflict? The comments are full of conflict and there is nothing wrong with that. Just because we all share a love of the Arsenal doesn’t mean we all share the same opinions. We’ve been around and around before regarding Ozil. I used to love him but now I can’t stand him as a player for the club I support. He’s bringing it down. Some want him to start every match regardless of whether he deserves it and attack every single person here that says anything even remotely negative about him and he is not above criticism. Some think otherwise.… Read more »
Agree. He’s delivering shit and getting paid a shitload. How that is good for our club is beyond me.
‘I used to love him but now can’t stand him…’ That kinda says it all mate – do you really think Ozil woke up at the beginning of this season and decided to play like the idiot you believe him to be? Seriously?! Read Goober’s comment again – you may just learn something if you take the blinkers off. A team is exactly that… a TEAM – many different players with different abilities working together and feeding off one another to achieve their common goal (ouch!). Loving Ozil when he does what he’s one of the world’s best at, then… Read more »
@Jack4343, no. I downvoted you for being an arrogant, but insecure, POS.
Arrogant maybe…insecure? Not hardly. I won’t shrink from a challenge unlike some I can think of. Insecure is what I would call many of our players.
You just don´t get it … I know he has his fanboys in India and around the world and those folks are not really interested in Arsenal, but you find them mainly on social media, not in an Arseblog forum. I for one support Arsenal, obviously, and I support Ozil – because he is an Arsenal player! And yes, there´s no need for a player like him if you don´t build the infrastructure for him. Like Real did when they bought him: they bought Khedira too and had other leaders. With us it was fantastic when he had Cazorla behind… Read more »
Here is where I disagree. You mention that we got the best out of Ozil when we had Santi and Alexis and I agree with that. However, my opinion is a world class player will make those around them better players than they actually are. Therefore, the world class players were Alexis and Santi. They made Ozil better than he is. Without either of them in our team, he’s woefully inadequate.
I don’t blindly support Ozil… but I do agree Imagoob’s far more reasoned comment. And I do think you’re a twat.
Save one or two quality performances he has been shit. Sell
As far as I’m concerned, if I’m Ozil I’d look around say ‘what’s the point’? Dump it off to Iwobi? Mkhitaryan? Xhaka? Yeah, awesome. Christ, I’d wonder what I’d done wrong to be playing with these footballing dead-ends.
Yep. Reminds of the days when you’d see Walcott screaming for the ball on the right wing and Özil just would not give it to him. Simply because he knew that nothing useful was going to come of it.
The chances of Kroenke spending money on the club are minimal. As he can now keep the accounts secret for months on end, the only time he will be reaching for his wallet is to add the cash that he is taking from the club in the form of debt. No one should underestimate how bad the future for Arsenal might be – on and off the pitch.
Not so long ago we and Manure were fighting it out for the title, now we’re “battling” for 5th! ManUre have spent shed loads of dosh on players and changed managers regularly – exactly like people on this blog want us to do – and drew with relegated Huddersfield after being 1 up to really put an end to the King Ollie bounce. Until we find another manager who takes us back to the basics of defending, we’re going nowhere except mid-table. It’s embarrassing to see teams like Wolves, Leicester, Brighton, Southampton and maybe even Burnley neutralise our strike force… Read more »
“It’s in our hands”.
Fucking dickheads!
Those little clips over the top..
Oh well
Oh well
Oh well
Oh well
Well…
Ooh
Hello
How low
Well, hello
Yet another awful league performance. Fans are likely to blame the players but the elephant in the room is Unai Emery. I have pointed out his faults at length in the past so I will just wish him and the team the very best for Thursday. Good luck.
Yes because these players didn’t;t bottle any games before he arrived…
Truth of the matter is its hard to tell with Emery because we have so much dead wood on our squad. Until we regenerate to some kind of extent then we’ll continue in this vein.
People talking like a genuine cull is gonna happen but its clearly not. We’ve needed one for years but it’s not arrived. Instead we’re getting rid of 2 solid players for free, and 1 is retiring. Leaving us with Mustafi, Elneny, Licht, Jenkinson, Mkhi, Ozil and Xhaka still underperforming and getting paid high wages. Who would gonna buy them? Honestly, what top team would any of them improve? So much deadwood but you’ll see most of them in a few months time sporting the new Adidas kit…
I don’t disagree with you.. The only real option for us is offloading as many as possible who don’t have what it takes, spending on 2-3 key positions with whatever money that gives us, and then promoting youth from within elsewhere. To be honest at this point I would actually like to see us play some young players and give them a proper chance, at least it would give us a sense of identity again.
I replied to a similar post below that I’d be so much more on board watching young players fuck things up than the “senior” players. A week of Mkhi’s wages would probably pay for Nelson, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Amaechi and Balogun and still leave the club some leftover. I’m not saying play them all at once but mix them in so there are elements of unpredictability to the team. When you see Ozil, Xhake and Mkhi are starting its v obvious what to expect and what to do to nullify it.
100% agree with this
Totally agree. It makes me feel sick supporting these over paid, under performing, nonchalant wankers. Good result against Valencia, and I hope/ wish we can go on and win the Europa, but seriously with the exception of Laca and Torreira I can.t. think of one of these big money players I actually like or would want to keep at the club. Just go through that teamsheet and think who even compares to the days of Paddy, Sol, Bob and Henry. Yes they were some of our greatest players ever, but this lot are not even close to half the players… Read more »
At least with the young players they will be gaining experience and not costing a fortune each week!
Hate to bring up Manure but David Beckham, Paul Scoles and Ryan Giggs 20 odd years ago. Did themselves or the Red Devils no harm at all!
Licht and jenkinson contracts up in the summer. Other than that agree with you, we’re looking a bit fucked
Jenks has one more year
Let’s hope we sell him then
Why sell when we can let him go for free next year? I’m all about traditions!
…Love ya blogs
The dream lives on!
I think a lot of teams would buy Xhaka just not teams better than us. Honestly though, players like that (except Mustafi) can stay as long as they’re not starting.
@TheLimpBar You can blame the players only up to a point. After that you have to look to the manager.
And Unai Emery, as others have also noted, has no philosophy, no default plan, changes players too often, plays players out of position, sets up defensively too often, has failed to improve our defence, and has an awful career record in away games. A bad appointment by Arsenal standards!
Sorry but he does not have an awful away record as a manager outside that last season at Sevilla so I’m not sure where you’re coming from on that one. In regards the other points changing players too often is purely down to opinion – its not an objective measure. In regards the defence I agree with that one. We have been better at defending set pieces though in my view so I’ll give him that at least. To say he has no ‘philosophy’ – what exactly do you mean by that? Arsene Wenger had a ‘philosophy’ if I get… Read more »
Emery has to take a lot of the blame for our pathetic form since we beat united at home. However, I think he’s done a lot more good this season than bad and I’ve definitely seen progress, despite it not being the finished article. We’re all so gutted but we have to look at the bigger picture. We still have a chance through the Europa League, but if we don’t get it, we have to back the manager and be patient. We all knew this transition could take a while. Emery inherited a broken team with a lot of problems,… Read more »
I didn’t honestly expect us to still be squarely in the top 4 hunt down to the last two matches this season. And at the outset of the season thought top 4 was a tall order with this squad and a new manager selected far later than should have been. Expectations met, in a way. If we somehow managed to pull off the Europa, I’ll consider it a better than expected overall return, but will still be terribly disappointed with this limp league final run-in. Just imagine. We could have had St. Totteringham’s day with only two matches having gone… Read more »
I actually like Emery, but he is an Everton manager at best. Martin Tyler said during the game that Emery is known to stay up till 2 am going over tactics and potential weakness of the opposition and you have to ask yourself that if that’s what he does and all we can do is serve that crap at the end of the season then I think we should get rid. We are in desperate times my friends and it seems as though the light at the end of the tunnel is a big massive diarrhea train. Hold on to… Read more »
Hahahaaha..remarkable…so you like Emery eaven though he is driving the ‘train’ into the end of the tunel…
I don’t know what people want from Emery. If he was the kind of genius superstar manager that could turn this shit show into a cohesive unit, he wouldn’t be OUR manager because he’d be somewhere else working with a club that isn’t falling apart at the seams, with better players than GwenSteffani and Granite Xhaka and Mhkifuckingtaryan.
the common denominator is the players. When issues are endemic under two different managers you can start to ask whether these players are up to snuff.
EVERYTHING IS SHIT – ANGRIEST MAN ON TWITTER
Utter shit show once again. Did anyone bother staying for the lap of honour? I certainly didn’t. I like to think they did it to an empty stadium with the boo’s still echoing around the terraces.
If you can’t bother to stay and say goodbye to players that have been classy throughout their time at the club and had nothing to to with the results in recent weeks, it says a lot about you and your interpretation of a supporter.
If you didn’t stay to clap Aaron Ramsey then, frankly, I’ve got nothing to say to you. A bad performance he wasn’t a part of is no reason to snub a cup final winning player who’s served us well for over a decade.
It’s fine. I am sure Ramsey doesn’t need fake applause from a weak fan like you, Swifty.
I stayed for the three leaving us, but I was also one to boo at the end of the game. This bunch let us down this season, it’s a minor miracle that we ever had a chance of reaching the top 4. It reminds me of the season when Leicester beat us to the title and everyone else was shit. We need a major overhaul and I’ll be glad if we get of Emery and some of these players who earn more in a week than most of us in years.
Absolute pants. We need so much work this summer that it’s inevitable the bulk of these players will still be here next season
You know it’s bad as well when the team is struggling and virtually none of your players are being linked with top clubs, Ramsey notwithstanding. There was a rumour about Lacazette this morning but that’s it, no one else wants to go near our players, a damning indictment of their ability if there ever was one.
welbz, rambo, lichtsteiner, jenkinson and cech will all leave.
Øzil, Kos, Monreal, Auba, Sokratis and Mhiki are all in their final years.
that leaves 11 players on their way out, and we also need new defenders og all four places, wingers and a ramseg replacement.
glad I’m not Emery
forgot Monreal. That’s 12 players.
Barca are also after Laca.
we should refuse to do any kind of business with Barcelona in the future
When you seen how someone like Hasenhüttl has improved Southampton with a (allegedly) worse squad, you have to ask questions of Emery. That stat of 4 points from the last 18 is really damning.
He didn’t win a game away from in his last season at Sevilla and conceded an average of 50 goals a season. So far out of his depth.
How was Klopp’s last season at dortmund?
Southampton have a more naturally balanced squad than us even if the quality is lacking. To be honest, if anything I just think this shows why we should be limiting the managers input on signings and thinking longer term. We’re dealing with the after effects of a manager with overarching control. My biggest worry right now is the lack of Director.
Completely agree. I keep hearing how the players are all shit so don’t blame Emery, but ffs as a squad we are better than that shit show. This group was applauded for their great showing at certain big games, so when we play like a bunch of diseased sloths in our run in, that points to the manager. He couldn’t get them up for the bread and butter, point grinding games, and he couldn’t set up a simple go-to strategy to play week in week out to get the best of them. Small time managers like Emery need tactics to… Read more »
Well it’s a good thing our recruiting staff is up to the task of bringing on more top talent. Free transfers on the horizon!
The penalty against Xhaka was not for barely touching the attacker on the shoulder–it was for a very clear trip on the heel. That’s why there was no argument from Xhaka.
Looked to me like the pull put the Brighton player off balance , which then resulted in him clipping his own heel. Still a pen, but the pull was what caused it. Or gave the player the opportunity for a clever piece of artifice.
Why the hell did he even touch Marsh!!! There was a covering defender coming in to block him anywa… OH WAIT… it was Mustuffup!
Arseblog, be interested to hear your thoughts on Xhaka this Summer. For me, he’s just a midfield version of Mustafi. He can hit a ball well with his left foot but he’s slow, brain dead at times, defensively poor and offensively doesn’t add much. I just don’t get what he does.
I never want to see Xhaka in an Arsenal shirt again. Today, not just the penalty conceded but those two shit free kicks into the wall. Knew he’d do that or kick it into row Z. I have no time for him because he’s stupid and careless
We should upgrade on him and use Guendouzi for rotation who will hopefully be a year more mature and improved next season
Xhaxa’s left foot is a myth. Reminds me of the knucklepuck kid from mighty ducks. 20 or 30 row zs before one flies in or even hits the target.
“knucklepuck kid from mighty ducks“ – this could be the greatest description of Xhaka I’ve ever seen. Hahaha.
He would be decent as a static deep playmaker in a team that has the ball alot, but we need a midfielder that can cover ground and carry the ball forward!! We need Aoar and Ndombele!!
Xhaka would not be decent in a team full of Messis.
I used to think that but when you compare him with others that have excelled in that role (Pirlo, Alonso, Busquets, Fernandinho etc), he’s just not switched on enough defensively. The sloppy passes and set-pieces you might chalk up to an off day, but mistakes against Leicester and Brighton are part of his DNA.
He ensures that we have 11 players on the pitch except for the times when he picked up his 9 red cards!
70M dreadfully spent. Wtf was Wenger thinking? Or seeing?
Key moments:
– Guendozi falling over and handling the ball
– Xhaka hitting the first defender
– Ozil cutting inside, then turning back inside, getting tackled
– Mikhi adjusting his shorts
Thanks. This summed it up well, although gotta mention Sokratis dive, 17 missed corners that look so pathetic etc
It’s those short corners too. You can hear the groans going round the ground when they do that
Lunacy that
I bet those short corners are Emery’s instructions.
Dont forget the Sokratis yellow for diving.
Get your own name! 😐
And you forget Monreal getting a penalty for a Broadway dive.
I feel very bad now. Even at home we are not able to beat teams that defend deep. We are lacking creativity upfront. The Wenger ball style looks so incredible now. On top of that couldn’t see a true hero leave the groove- those tears from Ramsey… With Welbeck also gone and lack of funds, i can’t see how we are going to improve this team!!! Such a dad day!
Wenger ball hasn’t existed at the emirates for about 4 seasons
It says a lot about us when bloody Brighton can come to Emirates and play a bit more adventurous style as compared to their usual self and think they can nick a draw or a win and actually go on to do it. Shambles!
Tim Stillman has been very worried about this – the day teams realize they don’t have to fear us at the Emirates, we’re cooked.
He’s so right too. Brighton parked all 11 behind the ball a week ago at Tottenham and lost 1-0. Against us they fancied a go and could’ve easily won today. Granted they knew they were safe today but we are talking Brighton. We should be picking their lock rather easily considering the difference in player values.
Emirates is a lovely place to play football. You wont be tackled, you will have as much space as you want the atmosphere is dead Mustafi Xhaxa Mhki and Lichsteiner might be playing at the same time
Complete and utter shitshow
I thought Leichtensteiner was our best player in the first half.
he didn’t do much at all, he wasn’t shite or good, just did his job
Shit owner, shit manager, shit players. Not much hope it gets better in the future due to the shambolic ownership and to top it all off we get to see Aaron Ramsey crying because of what it means to him to leave Arsenal.
Lots of shit fans too
Worst thing was Taylor……..shitfest aka Mike Dean…….. how does he get so many arsenal matches? Giving us the early penalty, he put himself under so much pressure to even it up. He’s standing in front of the foul in the area, on Lacazette, late in the second half….ignores it. It’s stonewall, it’s obvious……nothing. What about the yellow for Guendouzi? I mean it’s a foul , maybe, but why the fuck a yellow……he’s barely on the pitch and has done nothing else. Then there’s the foul on Torreira late in the second half, no foul, so he must have dived…….no, wrong… Read more »
It evened itself out as neither really should have been a penalty, but if the first was going to be called then the second one should have been called. Both players dove, but no way in hell Xhaka should have enough given Taylor a chance to make that call.
As much as I dislike Taylor, and he is a certified garbage ref, we should have been good enough regardless.
Oh ffs, don’t blame the referee. I think both penalties were correct, the one against Xhaka absolutely (watch it again–look at the feet, not the irrelevant touch on the arm). Have you ever seen a penalty call where there is so little protest from the players? Because they knew it was a clear penalty. Sokratis’ yellow for diving was deserved. The worst miss was the incident where Torreira was fouled and Mustafi was carded for bringing that to Taylor’s attention (okay, for screaming at Taylor). Apart from that, I thought Taylor was about average for Prem referees, which is not… Read more »
I remember Theo saying “they wanted it more than us” a few years ago. Those words echo in my mind over and over when I watch this team. Brighton, Leicester, Wolves… you can feel their energy and passion.
Let the cull be big this summer!
Not gonna happen unfortunately. We’ll be watching much the same shower of cowards in 19/20.
I hope not but if so then I might just focus on watching Valencia instead. They aren’t world beaters but at least they play with conviction.
I do wish we’d kept Coquelin instead of Elneny. He’s far from perfect but plays with passion and intensity and fills a certain role quite well when used properly. From what I’ve seen of Valencia he seems to have fit in well, sometimes starting ahead of the seemingly-superior Kondogbia.
But considering the many poor player management decisions in recent years, I guess that one is pretty far down the list right now.
Xhaka is an absolutely catastrophic player in my humble opinion and is not the only one
You are not alone in those thoughts. He is so quick to slow down breaks, and pass the ball back, and I was always confused. Realized it is because his forward passing cant beat the defender right in front of him.
Slow and awful don’t begin to cover how bad he is. Gotta get rid of him. Thanks AW 🙁
Start again. Burn it all
Project Youth 2.0. Bring the academy through, buy additional youth, even bring Freddie in.
I can live with that.
I’d be very on board for this. Would much rather watch young players at least try new things and bring some effing energy to the pitch. This slow, sideways bullshit is so predictable and tedious now. We don’t even play attractive football anymore. Every team knows what to do to stop us. And then counter attack when we over play it and scythe through us with a couple of passes. We lack strength and pace physically and guile and width tactically.
It won’t cut it. Big money will.
And we don’t have big money. There’s no point crying to KSE to spend when it’s not going to happen. You either accept the reality and think of a solution with those restrictions (project youth), or we spend the rest of our days angry and chanting for Kroenke Out, whilst he obviously isn’t going to leave.
4 points from a possible 18 is the most telling (and shocking) stat I’ve read today. When all around us were losing their heads (United, Spuds) we weren’t supposed to do the same. The biggest missed opportunity since Leicester won the league instead of us.
More telling stats from within those 4 from 18: – we ruin a home run of 10 wins on the trot – first loss at home since Day 1 – and that to the best team in the PL – ship 3 in 3 consecutive matches for first time in more than FIFTY years – Brighton’ s first away goal vs Arse since the ’80s – the deplorable clean-sheet curse continues unabated And all these ‘firsts’ from a team that KNOWS just who crucial these last few games are… that knows we had the easiest run-in… that sees 4 (or… Read more »
I’m so angry I couldn’t even get the insults right: ‘ as anything other than’ utterly spineless… etc etc
I dont blame only players but equally to unai ,for the last 8 games we play shit how many more games he need to solve the problem?
Gunners make my words (God forbid) we will win in Valencia but screw at the final .
Worst part today, for me, was when emery ran on the pitch wearing Xhakas face and gave away a really stupid penalty. Then he told auba at half time to miss a bunch of sitters in the second half. Adding that to him dressing as Mustafi and defending like he did against Crystal Palace I’ve no words
I know I said I wouldn’t do this anymore, but I’m breaking my player bashing embargo for this because what I saw today was a special breed of moron that warrants discussion. Just look at that fucking penalty. Like, you can clearly see some part of Xhaka decide “no don’t make this challenge you will give away a penalty” but at the last telling moment, the part of him that is a colossal idiot in him took over and went “NO FUCKING DO SOMETHING ANYTHING” and he did. And yes it was a soft penalty and no it wasn’t the… Read more »
. Couldn’t agree more. Slow, ponderous and mistake-prone, Xhaka is a fucking, moronic, liability.
Has to be the first name on the clear out list!
There could be a lot of 1sts on that list
I agree so much, that in fact I think it’s more important to get rid of him, than Mustafi!
The window where we bought Xhaka, Mustafi and Kolasinac was not a good one in hindsight,..
Underrated comment. Boom!
Well said, I can barely stand the sight of him anymore and, sadly, he’s not the only one. Why do we have so many brain-dead players?
All we want is our Arsenal back. Go with the youth I say.
Swiss Charlie Adam…very good. Unfortunately he is also probably our best midfielder. Just depressing
Aside from Kos and Laca, this has to be the first team that I have no connection with at all. I don’t find myself liking any one of these players. And I have the sense that the feelings are mutual. Does anyone really seem like they want to fight for the badge? Auba, Ozil, Mkhi, Mustafi… they seem like mercenaries. Give me a Jenko over Mustafi any day. He bleeds Arsenal red. I hope the youth system can bring us more devoted players than this lot.
So agree who is there to love in this team. Those two the only ones who give their all, perhaps other than Torreira.
This is why I’m big on a new youth project.
Eddie, Nelson, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Beilik, AMN, Bellerin, Etc. These are youth players I’ve had an emotional investment in after watching their progress (oddly, I was never big on Iwobi even st academy level).
I have a connection with those guys. Keep Mavro, Douzi, Torreira, Lacca, Kos, Etc to these bunch.
Why the hell has Beilik not been brought back to bolster our defence? He CANNOT be worse than the excrement spread all over that pitch today.
I think he just got injured again. Shoulder I think.
He’s fine and scored a goal for Charlton at the weekend.
My mistake. Who did I read that was injured? I’m sure it was one of our loan players.
I get the sentiment but I’d argue that Jenko is part of the problem as well. We want players with passion for the club (or at least, a never-say-die attitude). But we also want players that are good enough for the club too. There’s too many of them that aren’t and I have to say, Jenkinson is on that particular list.
If we lose to chelsea in the uefa cup final, do we still get a champions league spot as chelsea already have it? Or does it go to 5th position?
Oh please…. NO we dont
No extra spot given to the EPL in that scenario.
Neither , Europa winner or nothing
Premier league only gets 4 places
Unless the champions league or Europa league winners are English and finish outside of the top 4, in which case were given a 5th spot
It goes back to the year that Liverpool won CL but missed out on top 4
You know it’s bad when there’s no bonus rating :/
Reality check for next season. Reality check for the owners. I can’t blame Emery. He has got what he has got. And whichever way you turn a potato, it will still smell shittier, etc. So, big job for the summer, winter and even next summer. The way the club is managed, financially, don’t expect quick fixes. Don’t expect another world class manager would change it. Stop blaming the manager. A lot to do, and it need patience. End of another disappointing season. Can not expect anything from Europa League either. With such performance from players, stretched thin, better to keep… Read more »
A lot of the manager blame rings to me a bit like blaming mourinho for everything at united. Yes, mourinho is a cunt, but it’s been pretty fucking obvious since they appointed solksjaer that a manager can’t suddenly turn shit players in to good ones and it doesn’t matter how big your club is when your squad is poorly built and your players are average. I honestly can’t believe there are people who think that this is a champions league squad that has just underperformed for a few seasons now. This is a very very average squad.
It is worse than average, it is plain bad
Can’t blame Emery?? Sure, just look beyond his inept man management skills, dodgy substitutions and poor tactics.
I blame Bould, is he still the defence coach? He will not get a job anywhere else when Arsenal give him his P45.
His substitutions have regularly one us games and there’s been a marked improvement in our tactical set up in big games this season
An additional rating. 10 out of 10 for Ramsey for showing how much he cares about the club. And those FA Cup goals and rubbing Spurs’ nose it it. Will miss him.
We would have scored if it wasn’t for those substitutions. We had a momentun. The goal was in the air and Emery ruined it. I didn’t think any subs were necessary. Maybe Iwobi for Lichsteiner. We were dangerous and the players didn’t look tired. So I really can’t understand why Emery wanted to change that. Xhaka made a blunder but he didn’t have a bad game. Far from it. We fell apart when he went off. Mkhitaryan also looked lively in the period he was subbed. I think it was normal that we played with a handbreak on in some… Read more »
You are completely right. We had them against the wall for a good period, but as soon as the changes were made, the moment shifted. We looked like scoring before the subs came on.
Come on. It was Brighton. For long periods of time nothing happened. Apart from Xhaka taking shit corners, Xhaka taking shit free kicks and Xhaka failing to pass to the other men within the white lines who also wore red shirts. Enough is enough.
Granit took great corners.Some players like Auba failed to convert.
Watching the same match or selective viewing?
We looked like scoring after the subs too. Auba missed from 8 yards out and that header he should have put away.
Emery can’t help himself, it’s all about him and his decisions. Tinker, tinker tinker, negative tactics, shit football. I’m starting to detest him. Yes, the players are culpable, but he’s trying to play a multitude of systems that don’t suit our players because he thinks he’s a master tactician and has a point to prove. We’ve gone from a one trick manager with like for like subs on 70 minutes to a gazillion trick manager who is permanently changing things, often for the sake of it. Nothing has actually improved, it’s all like Guendouzi, looks good but doesn’t actually achieve… Read more »
No! Not the handbrake again! Arsene was supposed to take it with him!
Mustafi, Xhaka, Mkhi
Get the fuck out of our club
Live in reality? See Torreira…cost us 4 goals against BHA, Soton, west Ham an Liverpool…I suppose you want him out to…cost us 11 points.
Great logic.
If we do make the finals of the Europa League, Emery better bench Xhaka and Mustafi. If he does not those 2 clowns/pretend foot ballers will cost us the trophy.
If we do nothing else this summer but get rid of Xhaka and Mustafi I will be a happy Arsenal fan.
If we do nothing else this summer but get rid of Xhaka, Mustafi and Mikhi, I will be an extrememely happy Arsenal fan.
Not even asking for signings, asking for sales. SALES!
What did Mustafi do wrong today or last match?
The man is a liability, not talking about the last 2 games alone.
But the point is–if Mustafi plays well in two matches and they are both still ridiculous disasters, it seems unlikely that Mustafi is the problem.
There’s a time we had Patrick Viera and another time Alex Song. Nowadays we have Granit Xhaka. The negative transformaito matrix is obvious
Xhaxa is not fit to even lick Songs boots.
short memories…?
Much overrated Torreira lost the ball (mispass or was fleeced) 6 or 7 times…against BHA,Soton, west Ham, Liverpool….4 of which led directly to goals against
Those losses cost us 11 points…just saying…
Santori, let’s stick to Xhaka, the subject of this comment. So, now, give us his stats, how many times he has costed this team, and whether his name is worth being mentioned amongst Arsenal greats like Viera and Song in that position
Arsenal greats like… Song? Oh mate…
I’m no big fan of Xhaka, but Song an Arsenal great? That’s some revisionist history right there. Paddy more like it, proper legend and how badly we need him in our midfield now!
Valencia tonight scored five goals in the first 40 minutes.
The majority of our squad just can’t be arsed putting in a decent shift.
Can we ender negative numbers?
We´re going to get our asses kicked in CL next season
Even I, the staunch Emery supporter, have to admit, he shit the bed as a manager these last few weeks. Didn’t handle the pressure. Handling the pressure is part of the job. Sometimes I think he manages like he’s playing Football Manager. Too clever by half, overthinking. I think he just started fucking around too much with lineups and tactics, and everyone has probably just been really confused. Not to mention the language barrier. At such an international club, command of English is essential. They probably don’t even know what the fuck he’s saying half the time. BUT LET’S BE… Read more »
That’s right. We can’t judge him at all. He inherited a team that we all know what it is. He has Kroenke above him. That’s enough arguments. Everything he can do is rebuild the team and then judge him. I think we can judge him in his third year. Next one will be the first season when he can implement something more.
3 years after being binned by PSG, he’s 1 lucky Barsteward if he gets that long!
I think we should chill down on Emery a bit. PSG took him with ambition to win everything, compared to us. I think the board chose him with the idea that he will move us a bit more than Arsene did and cause they found a man that will work with no funds. However, you can’t go in the managers market and buy one that will bring you trophy straight away. Pep’s first season (3rd), Klopp (8th). And never forget what Emery inherited. We shouted at Wenger to buy to rebuild the team and he did’t. So now we expect… Read more »
I think he’s over managed sometimes as a consequence of the squad. Gary Neville said earlier in the season he thought emery was basically having to over manage a bad squad. He definitely deserves criticism for the last few weeks, but he’s also in his first season and the squad clearly needs work so I think people need to get a bit of a grip. I mean what does it say we have to change formation depending on who’s fit because we have a left back and a left wing back, a right back (who’s 52) and a makeshift right… Read more »
“We badly needed a goal, and with 12 minutes to go the manager brought on a defender.”
No, he brought on Kolasinac. How could anyone mistake him for a defender?
he’s not a defender, not a winger, what is he? 😀
Even if we get rid of all the dead wood from the team (Lichtsteiner, Jenkinson, Mustafi, Elneny, Xhaka, Mkhitarian) add to that Monreal, Kolasinac (I don’t know what will happen with them), plus Cech retire, Ramsey and Welbeck walk free, thats 11 players out and even with them as numbers we were short on solutions, but anyway. Let’s suppose 11 players are out, what do you think the club will do? We need a centre back, right back, left back(s), central midfielder, at least two wingers and thats bottom line. That’s at least 7 players. At least! And how many… Read more »
Don’t forget the overpaid Turk/German in yer list
That just adds more to our misery. I really don’t care what happens to him.
people who live in reality…
As the compounded sales value of the players you list might buy us one useful midfielder, it does not sum up. My tip is that we’ll keep Mustafi and Xhaka.
My fingers don’t have enough strength to go into all that is wrong with this squad right now, but will say to only score on PK (a very questionable call that would likely be overturned with VAR next year) against a squad sitting 17th in the table with nothing to play for sums up so much of what is wrong with this squad. We have been handed every opportunity possible to have secured 3rd place already and crap each one away with abysmal performance and abysmal performance. Today’s disaster was of course led by Xhaka and his constant turnovers, kicking… Read more »
This club is cementing the emotion “fear” around itself. I don’t know what else more we’ve felt more the past decade. That’s the scariest thing.
It’s just sad BUT with how shit the teams in the table from 3-6 have been if Auba makes that penalty against Spuds in the NLD we would be in the Champions League places and above the Old enemy-one penalty. Arguably, that’s the decisive moment of the PL campaign and the season. And we all suspected at the time that it would be of that magnitude and it turns out it has been.
+2 points for Arsenal/-1 for Spuds. I see what you’ve done there 😉
I’m really hope to have see for the last time Emery and Guendouzi at the Emirates.
No one single players improves this year and his defensive mentality is killing our team and our philosophy.
The solution it’s very simple and not very expensive: change the manager and promote some young players in the first squad.
One man for it? Freddie Ljungberg !
Second choice ? Patrick Vieira
If Emery goes, so should all his staff & the Football head ‘Raul’ ? last of the 3 who employed him, Gazidis & Sven already history, start again. I’d say PV4 with Freddie as asst manager.
Unfortunately the huge money the EPL generates has attracted people like Kroenke Arsenal are in danger of becoming the Newcastle of the south only time will tell but it’s in his hands, this summer will show if Kroenke has the ambitions a club like Arsenal expect there are so many players not good enough Emery has a tough job it’s going to be interesting to see what he does in the summer,
I think mhki is are worst player. Absolute shell of a man not just footballer. Xhaxa is the midfield Mustafi.
Torreira misplaced passes, was robbed off the ball 6 or 7 times against BHA, Soton away, West Ham, Liverpool (poor clearance directly leading to 4 goals against…and 11 points dropped, just so you know.
Mkhi is low hanging fruit Mslintat was allowed to pluck at convenience when we really needed to secure Ramsey and add a player at Rwing like Mahrez.
Mslintat loaded on players like Mhki and Lichsteiner ushering in the ‘ panic loan’ era.
Mkhitaryan gets to retire having played football for man united and arsenal ??♂️
Apparently the instructions form Emery are.. only play forward if not in the lead…and that is a shit way to go, cuz we aint exactly a clean sheet factory!!!! Literally the strikers is all we got Blogs, that’s why Laca put’s crosses in..and Auba also goes wide..Laca and Auba should be the highest earners in this team…
they are the strikeforce, main ball carriers and wingers all in one!!
This match sums up the season.
Either xaka or mustaffie are gonna cost silly goals.
Auba is gonna miss easy chances.
Ozil underperforms.
We seriously need a summer ovehaul because this squads not going anywhere.
A healthy bellerine may help but we need a left back and two center forward….a new central mid would be nice as well
Toirreira cost us 4 goals against Soton, BHA, West Ham, Liverpool thru give aways, turnovers or poor clearances translating to 11 points dropped.
Thought you might like to think about that…let it sink in.
How many times are going to repeat yourself? And how many times are you willing to ignore that you’ve been proven wrong? Torreira wasn’t solely responsible for those goals, and isn’t even registered as causing the errors leading to those goals, just check Opta or the Official PL stats. You’re an absolute div on an agenda, you compare Torreira in his first season whilst 22years old and most of the time lumped with the incredibly lazy Xhaka to Mustafi etc who have been in the PL for three years and still single-handedly cost us results. Try keeping your eyes open… Read more »
Shut the fuck up!
Haha, you’ve had the knives out for Emery since the start of the season. We created enough chances to win the game today and the manager cannot legislate for our 50 million strikers missing from 8 yards out and Xhaka doing what Xhaka does
That’s correct, Frank! But I don’t know if we ever find out do we use the strikers properly. Why? Because we have no wingers to change our format of play. So, we are in a situation when we expect side backs to deliver winger’s service and in the same time side backs to be defenders. That’s a equally said like we have a small cheap car (that can just drive and fulfill the transportation role) and expect it to be a ferrari (that can give much more then just transportation). And, also, try other players profiles to fulfill wingers (in… Read more »
I completely agree. However, I don’t think that is Emery’s fault. It’s why the comparison to managers who’ve come in and improved sides that are used to managerial changes irks me. This squad has not been logically assembled; we have no wingers, we have two world class strikers and a number 10 is a specialist, we had no like for like backup for Bellerin, Monreal has regressed but his backup in Kolasinac can’t even play in a 4, so we have to change formations depending on which of them plays. Well managed squads don’t have these issues and I’m not… Read more »
if there is a team with Xhaka and Mustafi but still manage to get to the top 5, I think that’s an achievement