A red card for Nicolas Pepe made it difficult for Arsenal against Leeds at Elland Road today, and in the circumstances a point was very welcome.
The home side hit the woodwork three times, and we rode our luck a bit as we dug in defensively, but there wasn’t much to like even when we had 11 men.
There’s a lot of work for Mikel Arteta still to do.
Read the Leeds 0-0 Arsenal match report and see the goals here
Leeds 0-0 Arsenal – Player Ratings
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10/10 for our woodwork.
Great performance. Sturdy presence.
I think we should get bonus Covid points for the players distancing themselves from teammates and also Leeds attackers.
And Woodwork is homegrown
Hahaha. I needed this comment after that game.
But Leeds homegrown in that case, heheh.
Woodwork put in a solid shift. Is he related to Inanimate Rod?
Gabriels woodwork also had a block.
I thought that was Johnson on that one.
Wasn’t even on long. Had 3 great touches all in the last 10 mins of the game. Motm for me.
Ozil trolling Piers Morgan was the MOTM performance from an Arsenal player today for me.
Agree, Özil’s performances from home have been pretty solid. Hope to see more of that until the end of his contract
As sad as it is to say, Willian is quickly turning into my least favourite player. It’s obvious he’s not bothered, and how someone can look leggy after two weeks off is beyond me. Unless he’s still jet lagged after the Dubai trip! Giving him a 3 year contract will go down as one of the worst pieces of business since we swapped Alexis with Mkhi. Simply catastrophic
Seems we’re hell bent on making stupid recruitment decisions. I’m watching Leicester’s Fofana holding his own vs Liverpool, who we decided was no Saliba.
So far, Arteta has shown he can’t deal with personalities. Guendouzi, Ozil, Saliba, even Pepe to some extent, If you want robotic work horses, go to Sheffield utd or another small club. Big players have personalities, that’s what makes them who they are. Not a fan or hater of Ozil, but if you take out a player of his creative calibre, you better not go 7 hours with scoring a goal, especially when you rely on one player to get you goals. He stopped scoring, we’ve stopped progressing..
I don’t agree with this. Right temperament and ‘buy in’ is part of building a team. Pep had to get rid of Yaya Toure, Sir Alex of Beckham, Klopp had Sturridge, this is not new. The issue is finding a solution without those players.
Guendouzi…no one wanted him until the final day. Ozil…no one will take him even we paid someone to. Saliba…he’s 19 in a foreign country and his mom just passed away. You want to say he’s handled Pepe’s personality then fine. But also remember Auba has credited Arteta as one of the primary reasons for resigning.
And what has he done since he got his new contract? Ozil produced more after his new contract that Auba has.
No that’s simply not true.
Check his rate of chances created after signing the contract. It is not his problem those chances weren’t converted. I know that won’t change anything as the hatred is blind.
Ozil + Giroud would be more productive than whatever we have + Auba now.
Unfortunately, it is true.
It is amazing just how good Ozil has become since he stopped playing.
Ozil’s not the current answer, but folks are legitimately lamenting our dead zone creatively in the attacking third. Ozil, Willian, Auba, Laca, Pepe – they’re all in for criticism, and that’s why.
Personalities or indiscipline? I’m sure you’d consider auba as a personality? laca? bellerin? luiz? tierney? are they just robotic work horses? You need a reality check, when was the last time Ozil created consistently, couple of seasons ago? the game has evolved, he has not. As much as i would like to see him pinging about clever little passes again, the current game just dont afford him such luxury of time and space anymore. Physicality are ruling the game now, almost every team has bought into the pressing game. In some way, its all about beating the press nowadays –… Read more »
I would agree with this but we dont press anymore and have an entire midfield bar Partey who cant beat a press on the half turn or with quick feet. Football has evolved, past our whole squad not just Ozil. Ozils numbers were extremely poor but i suggest you watch any game that Ozil played under Arteta before lockdown. He was still head and shoulders above everybody. If we had replaced him i wouldn’t be mentioning his name but currently Willian is getting into not only the squad but the starting 11 every week based off what,.
Not a hater nor special fan of Ozil either – however the questions begs louder with each Willian ‘performance’… would you rather have him or Ozil on the pitch?
I know where my money would go.
If we was winning or drawing games not losing half the games, I would agree with you but we not so your assessment is wrong.
I agree with alot of this…But at the same time players have to take some type of responsibility. Right now all im seeing is a bunch of coddled millionaires who don’t give a fuck and whose lives are only affected by the fact fans cant watch them live. Absolute bubbled pricks.
You might want to say the same for SAF. Beckham, Van nistelrooy, Stam, even Roy Keane to some extent .
…we only got used to Arsene.
Well he was £10m more expensive
So true, you can see how little he cares about any of it. All he does is lose the ball with heavy touches, slow thinking and low energy. His legs move very fast when he runs but it’s like he’s churning butter with them. Arteta has to swallow his pride on this one. You can tell he’s desperate to have Willian work out. I’d rather see Ozil on the left at this point.
Seems that way but im equally as unimpressed with everyone in those attacking areas with the exception of saka. Honestly I think its the way arteta utilises these players. Won’t give up his defensive structure by committing players forward. We get fewer players around the guy in possession than at the tail end of last season. Our attacking play is actually regressing when I thought it was the next step in the evolution. I’ll say it now; I think we’re going nowhere with arteta. Not because he can’t coach players or manager them but because of what he’s trying to… Read more »
Spot on, everything you mentioned. It is surely obvious to any gooner (no matter how much we all want him to succeed) arteta struggles with the attacking aspects of the game.
Cannot disagree with any of your points. The way some of the “lesser” teams (Villa, Leeds, S’hampton, Everton) are playing at the moment, we’ll have to improve drastically to match last season’s finish. Of course, it’s about current form. The defence and/or attack could click into gear and we could go on a long unbeaten run. At the moment, you have to say Arteta isn’t in as comfortable a position as he was after the FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs. I don’t think he’ll get another season after this if he doesn’t keep us in the Europa League (at… Read more »
I just remember how Arteta was as an Arsenal player in his day, and this current Arsenal style doesn’t surprise me. More solid defensively than Emery days but just as clueless about how to score goals.
I hated Arteta being here. Not because i didnt like him but the signing (after the 8-2) was indicative of where we was going. In hindsight Wenger should have been fired after that, event though he still reached a few highs afterwards. We failed to operate like an ambitious ruthless football club for years and now we are reaping what was sown.
Can we really call them lesser teams anymore. They all have better Centre mids and wide players. and a much better style of play. we have been especially poor since Wengers last season and its not a case of underperforming but we actually have less quality than alot of other teams. Because of our name we just expect that this is a blip and we will bounce back. When the truth is Wenger didn’t adapt at a crucial period and we are left far behind alot of other teams. We are Man united but without the money just to buy… Read more »
”Turning into’ Fuck Willian and Fuck whoever sanctioned him coming here.
8 pl games in, Willian is such a disappointment. Absolutely mugged by his agent. Would rather see a youngster struggle in the team each week than Willians awful attitude. He can fuck off back to Chelsea. Pepe looks like he just isn’t going to work out.
He won’t fuck off though. He has 6 more trips planned this year alone.
Dubai is wonderful this time of year and very popular with retirees of above average earnings all year round.
and another 2 and half years on a lucrative contract/pension
Bonus rating is a good point, been a lot of softer penalties given this season.
Exactly
Problem is they clarified the rule about 6 weeks back. It would have been given in September under the previous guidelines.
I don’t think every bobble of the ball in the box into a hand should be a penalty, but when it’s blocking a goal bound shot and your arm is away from your body it always should be.
Man Utd would get that 10/10 times, even since the rule change.
100% agreement.
However, a win in this fashion would have been incredibly lucky and undeserved and if this resulted in a penalty but Leeds had won it by converting two of their 3 woodwork shots, nobody could have complained.
Don’t think anyone here would disagree, but MU have 4 or 5 such wins just since Jan. Think we all just want a bit more of that luck, cause we haven’t gotten much of it. Leeds’ yellow at the end, while meaningless in the overall context of the game and result, was a worse version of the exact tackle that got Auba a red last season. Eventually these things cost points (like when your only source of goals has to sit three games).
Real shame Saka couldn’t take that late chance. So much of what he does is unbelievably good, but he does need to work on his finishing.
I have no idea why Nelson is on set pieces – his corners are woeful, and have been for a while. I can’t believe we didn’t have a better option out there?
The corner thing seems to have been a problem for a while now. What’s the point in crowding the keeper of the ball isn’t going to get past the first defender?!
That’s unacceptable on my Sunday league team, should never see it this often in the pros
Yep, people get subbed for such failures where i play. To see players who are payed small fortunes a week unable to beat the first man from a set piece is a special torture. Not to mention foul throws (bellerin) the inability to pass forward or keep the ball in forward areas for more than 5 passes before going backwards All the way to Leno to play a long ball. We are shambolic right now. and to be honest we are still not as angry or as worried as we should be.
I am really unhappy with the performances of these young players. They have been given an opportunity to show what they can do and make those places their but they have continued to play like kids in kindergarten. They have not impressed, but have had few flashes that do not amount to anything. Martinelli is one young player, I feel we are missing so much. It is so sad the way the team is going. It may end up disastrous at the end, as the signs are pointing to that.
Nketiah, Willock, Nelson are U-23 level players. If I compare them to similar age players in other Premier League clubs they seem stagnant, not able to adjust or rise to required level.
It’s not only corners. It’s all set pieces. I haven’t seen a decent freekick or corner since beginning of season. And Bellerin now had 4 foul throws in as many games. Auba’s 1st touch is tentative. Amateur stuff. If top level professionals can’t do the basics then you got to ask questions what goes on in the training ground? And it’s the same week after week.
I hope Edu hasn’t been stuffing the coaching staff with his cronies.
Saka will save us.
If things don’t improve, he might leave us
Playing 10 men against non-top-six opposition is an interesting way of replicating our counter-attacking underdog strategy!
It nearly worked if only William was sent off and Pepe remained?
What did Pepe do well today to earn this praise, I thought he was just as bad as Willian, maybe worse (defensively for sure)
He is money poured down the drain.
I’d like to see auba flanked by Saka and Nelson and willock behind them with a proper run of games.
Won’t even bother to comment on the elephant in the room but everyone acknowledges Arteta has a long way to go and I personally feel he is out of his depth. The line up I’d what we should have started the season with for players to gel.
Bleak.
I’d like to see some good football. It’s been a long time…
We’re getting desperate now, aren’t we.
Nelson perhaps, but Willock no. He needs a loan. He’s not nearly at the required level
When we had 11 on the pitch today there was nothing to suggest Auba is any better down the middle or that Willock or Pepe are the answer… I’d happily see Auba down the middle at the minute because Lacca has been so poor but we desperatley need a new forward.
Peboue
We only come to see…
That’s it. As soon as they’re available, Martinelli, Aubameyang, and Saka should spearhead our attack.
No one else deserves it.
Are people confident arteta will play martinelli?
I’m not. He’s one of my favourite young players at the club, alongside Saka, but people forget Arteta wasn’t playing him much before his big injury. Now with Willian among our wingers, I see game time even harder to come by.
He’s a serious talent, and his attitude is impeccable, but I don’t think we’ll see too much of him this season between him recovering and the sheer depth on the wings
A very valid question considering Arteta was not playing him at all before his injury . I wouldn’t just assume he’ll slide right into the eleven (even if he should). Arteta has been complimented for his man management , which I can see with Xaka, but he also has very extreme prejudices about players and he rarely backs away from them.
I don’t think Arteta knows how to develop or coach an attacking scheme.
And the fact that we are praising our central mids for their tackles and clearances rather than any creative output is telling.
He doesn’t know? He doesn’t want… or he’d have Özil at least on the bench.
It’s partly due to his choice in backroom staff. Steve Round and Albert Stuivenberg are Man Utd rejects who were sacked along with their managers for boring & defensive football.
Arteta has to drop one (ideally both) of these guys in favour of an offensive coach. I am willing to bet the hybrid 3 at the back stuff is Stuivenberg’s idea. We saw something similar at Utd when Van Gaal was there.
We haven’t seen much impact from the Atletico Madrid guys Arteta hired either. Likely due to their lack of seniority
Steve Round was assistant to Allardyce and Moyes, Stuivenberg, as you say, was assistant to Van Gaal. Dreadful football all round, and so far Mikel is looking more Moyes than Pep or Arsene. It’s boring, ugly, miserable football for players and fans alike and at this rate we’ll be lucky to finish mid table. Mikel has had to deal with a lot of problems, but there are many of his own making, and some of his decisions aren’t looking too smart now.
Award for top avie right here.
Salibaba … thats ace!
Time will tell, he hasnt even been on the job for a year. To me the most promising development attacking wise so far is the bellerin of old is coming back, bombing forward and overlaps. Seems like Arteta’s preferred way of attack is overloading the flanks more than playing it through centrally, which we all have very fond memories of. I think the crucial step is having the team form some proper chemistry, like leeds. If flanks are the preferred routes, then players should instinctively know each other whereabouts. Till now I still dont see any real partnership when we… Read more »
I don’t care if the plan is to go down the flanks or through the middle but I don’t think we commit to either. To me, overloading the flanks should still be progressing the ball forwards. If we go wide and the fullback is continually in a position where the pass is backwards then we aren’t going to threaten much. Get players beyond the ball. Make opponents have to worry. Make them drop off. Basically offer forward passing options. But really it’s more a general style that needs to be incorporated across the width of the pitch. Get players to… Read more »
Great comment here.
Definitely going the wrong direction, getting outshot by Leeds 9-2 on goal and 24-9 over plus about a 2 to 1 possession disadvantage (a problem well before the red card). At this point would rather see the young players out there that seem to give a rats ass about playing hard than those like William and Pepe.
It would be great to see Aubameyang having a quick chat with Giroud about hold-up play…
Giroud is available in January, suits this style of play, cheap, getting on in years and wants to stay in London. Must be worth a three year deal on huge wages, surely?
Dont tempt fate. Its so bad right now i would take him..Which means the board are already lining up something.
He’s now ex Chelsea meaning he qualifies for the former Chelsea retirement bonus Willian, Luiz, & co enjoy..
Is that sarcasm…I hope it is, for your sake anyway
I don’t know much, but I do know a few things: Arsenal are average and that won’t change anytime soon. The club’s recruiting is haphazard. Willian is the perfect example of that bad recruiting. No creative midfielders makes it difficult to score. The manager is inexperienced. The owners will never spend enough to buy the players we need.
And lastly, there is nothing I can do about it.
Thing is, and we have this eerily in common with Manchester United, the much-maligned owners are making funds available and entrusting spending to others. The spending itself is problematic.
Agree somewhat. But we need a few big signings. Partey and Gabriel were very good signings but we also needed one great creative mid and a worldclass winger. We need the money ready to spend when a player turns out to be a dud. And to be less haphazard, willian.
I personally (and I don’t speak for every supporter on this) do not want owners pouring in their own cash into the club except in case of emergency (and we may qualify emergency differently – I think we’d all agree “global pandemic” is one, but I’m not sure “new signings” qualifies). Were we a Champions League club we might have been able to do more in recent windows. The end to Emery’s full season is particularly haunting for me. With a lot to come off our wage bill in the next few months there’s some room there. First step –… Read more »
Again, agree somewhat. But we all know that sometimes businesses need to go in debt to improve. We can’t be successful without getting better players. Liverpool bought Diego Jota for 45 million. Chelsea bought attacking players this summer. We don’t have the players right now to be successful to the point where we had to win the FA Cup to qualify for the lowly Europa league. Without spending on new players we won’t have any European football and we’ll lose even more money. Pepe looked like a good buy. Spent too much, obviously, but he was in demand. Sometimes players… Read more »
Man united have endless money to spunk..While we are fucked. If you think we are spending anything after having to buy Partey and failing to sell the deadwood.
Somebody thought we needed to break the bank for Pepe. Even putting aside the idiotic red card, he doesn’t really contribute much of anything time after time. It won’t hurt the team a bit to have him suspended for a while.
There was supposed to be an investigation into the Pepe transfer. I wonder what was “investigated”.
Don Raul was fired, dodgy deals. I feel for Pepe who can never live up to that price tag, it’s not his fault.
Could have got Ziyech for 35 million that summer.
The most expensive rubbish: PEPE
Same can be said for auba. They both look like any other average players. Until we put pepe in positions to do what you’d expect a top level player to do id rather judge the way he’s utilised. And if your team doesn’t put balls into the box then it’s hard to judge auba. Both can score. Neither get the ball near goal
We got other interesting stories too:
-Luiz the penalty with red card specialist
-Mustafi – with good sense of self destruction, the one we all were sure after dreadfull performances will never play again for the club
– Socratis who partnered the german and now he is not even in the squad
– Xhaka
– Guendozzi a bright talent shiped out quickly after his behavior
– Pepe
Just to mention Ozil and Willian
And of course Unai
What a mess we are in…
Lacazette – Mr 50million upgrade to Giroud who has less goals and worst hold up play and tbh looks fat and slower than Giroud. Auba – new contract signed, instantly becomes Ozil OZIL…. Saliba- looks better than what we have but not in any squads Bellerin – goes from shambolic to exceptional and back again in the space of seconds. Cedric – Who? and Why? Pablo Mari – Huh, what? did look decent though. Nelson – Everyone calling for him…Why? no end product. Willock – See Nelson Partey – never been injured in his career. Comes to arsenal already injured.… Read more »
Why the fuck do we keep repeating this? I really liked Giroud, and still like him when he plays for France. But it was Aubameyang, not Lacazette, who we got to replace him (Dortmund would only let Aubameyang go if they got a replacement–Batshuayi– and Chelsea wouldn’t let the Belgian go unless they got a replacement (Giroud). Is there anyone who would not rather have had Aubameyang than Giroud in that time? Whatever he’s done or failed to do the last few matches, we would have been sunk with Aubameyang.
Lacazette was brought to replace Giroud.
Honestly, Pepe can f off after that. I thought he still needs more time, but that headbutt was plain stupid. Give Nelson a run and Saka on the other side. Willian is so much worse than I expected, he can’t even be arsed to look like he wants to be on the pitch. I still think Mikel can turn it around
I appreciate that ratings are subjective, but a 4 for Willian? He toddled about like geriatric looking for bedpan.
I gave him a two for not whipping down his shorts and showing his ass.
Willian is a total waste. Lazy, ineffective, disinterested, wasteful. Nice retirement package though. So far Arteta admitted he has “failed” with Ozil, admitted Saliba exclusion was mistake, can’t seem to motivate Willian to even try, can’t find a way to use Pepe to any effect, can’t get the team to attack or score goals. Other managers seem able to find that balance or system but somehow Arteta can’t. Arsenal really don’t have the quality of players to forge a decent attack? Some things did improve, but overall Arsenal is now a mid-level team.
.I think he faffs about but toddled is good.
Leeds were clearly a better team, not necessarily better players, and that is worrying. I can’t really justify paying money to watch this Arsenal team anymore. They seem to have gone backwards and look as bad as at any time since Wenger left.
I think that’s part of what’s so frustrating. Aston Villa, Leicester and now Leeds just flat-out look better than us. We look so average. I do think there has been slightly better defending this year, especially considering injuries but the attacking is clearly deficient. Last point: I actually thought Blogs was a bit harsh on Ceballos. Best player for me today.
Not gonna lie I was one of the people wanted Wenger out at least 4-5 years before he did. Now I really understand what he did for Arsenal. His last year didn’t look this bad as now and Arsenal has spent quite a lot of money to “upgrade”. Granted at some point Wenger had to go but still I didn’t feel it could go this bad.
As usual Arseblog over indulgent to the youngsters. Willock was hopelessly slow and indecisive on the ball and Nelson wasted some of our few decent opportunities. With the continuing non-emergence of Nketiah it may be that our youngsters have been over – hyped (with the superb exception of Saka).
Saka and Martinelli are the real deal, the rest look replacement-level. We need to really consider whether Falogan has attributes more needed than a wispy fox in the box like Nketiah.
Let’s call it for what it is. It’s sad to say, but right now, the youth development project is looking less promising all of a sudden. Perhaps its unfair to ask so much of them when you’ve got supposed “stars” like Laca, Willian and Pepe letting you down, but let’s look at where we stand right now: AMN not getting a start, Nketiah runs around and poaches once in a while, Guendouzi shipped out because of attitude, Nelson brought zero to the game, Willock positive runs, but no end product. Fingers crossed for Martinelli and Saliba. Saka seems to be… Read more »
Totally agree about Nketiah, Willock, Nelson. They all Europa group stage or U-23 level players at this point. Nelson might have the most potential of the three but need game time, perhaps at lower level – and work harder
We didnt win the today and the season so far has been terrible. But its honestly surprising seeing how some fans are already calling for a new manager. The manager that won a trophy within a few monts of being appointed. Imo it was a good lineup. Maybe only Nelson instead of willian, otherwise i wouldnt have changed any other player. Changing managers will only put us back to where we were 10 months ago. Weve made some terrible signings and are now seeing the result of that. Nothing a manager can do about that. As we all know, Arteta… Read more »
I’m certainly not calling for a new manager. He’s just starting his career as a manager, but he is inexperienced. That’s true. And he has improved the defense. He needs help, though.
Agree. They pulled out a draw when they needed it. I think a loss would have meant the wheels truly come off and the team goes into full crisis mode. There were a few defensive positives to take away (and lots of luck from the woodwork). But Arteta can build on that. 10 man team at Leeds with a draw is a pretty good result considering how much Leeds creates. A draw is nowhere near what was expected, but once Pepe was sent off, I feared a 3-0 score. Take the point and build. Wenger always said you never want… Read more »
I feel for Arteta..But with spuds top and everyone around us looking better even the shit teams like Sheff utd and Fulham look like better footballing sides right now dont know how long this will go on for.
I wouldn’t call for a sack. If the Emery comparison to be made the most likely Arsenal will keep getting Emery level of managers and end up in same places.
Arteta should keep on going at least till the end of the season bar a relegation fight. Arsenal needs a build up with existing players and academy.
…”bar a relegation fight”.
And that will convince Luis Enrique, Zidane, Pep or Klopp to come to the Emirates?
For now, patience with Arteta beyond December is unwarranted. I repeat, FOR NOW. He may oversee a long unbeaten run and win a couple of trophies at the end of the season. But if we don’t get closer to the top 8 by December, it makes no sense in spending to sign a couple of players that Arteta prefers.
I thought Pepe was our best player in the first half (yes, a low bar) along with Bellerin. We need a creative force in the middle and Willock is still a candidate in my opinion. The more I see Saka, the more the number 10 role (however modified) doesn’t look like the way to use his obviously considerable talent. It’s possible Willock will be better able to play that role when Partey is behind him with one of Elneny, Ceballos, and Xhaka, depending on the opposition and fitness.
Arteta Out. He is clueless. Willian shouldn’t have started yet again he does even though he was hauled off at half time.
A loss next week and I fear for Mikel. Even with 11 men we were second best. It’s getting to the point now where I just see the same shit emery served up, passive, boring and conservative football.
Going by Douzis action According to Arteta, what Tierney did at the end showed improper conduct.
According to nowadays standards of discipline at Arsenal – none negotiable.
Once Saka came on, we had better scoring chances than the rest of the game, even though we were down to 10 men.
Stop blaming players… no creativity even while it was 11vs11. To not register your only creative player ‘ Mesut Ozil ‘ in a 25 man squad is just stupidity , egotistical. Winning the FA Cup does not make you special !
Does Ozil make a difference in this game? We faced 14 attempts in the first half alone, 33% possession. It’s not like we just couldn’t find the final pass, we could barely get on the ball with 11 men, let alone 10.
We need some creativity, we need balls to pierce through for our players to run into. Passes that put the opposition on the back foot.
Not saying Ozil is the answer, but something needs to be done. We show nothing going forward. Slow side ways passing and then trying to go wide is killing us.
Yes we need creativity, but we actually need to get on the ball first! It doesn’t matter how many creative players we have on the pitch, if we don’t have the ball they can’t do anything.
if it works in FIFA it works in real life! or is it Football Manager?
Ozil might not make a difference but he certainly wouldn’t hurt. Ozil got blamed for nearly every loss amd people would say the team carries him. The team, other than the fulham match, carries willian amd he’s here for 3 more years. Ozil can at least create. He can’t play defense but so what. Lacca can’t score and he normally starts. With partey in the team ozil could be free to improvise. Then again, after all this time out maybe he can no longer play. But the results are awful and Ozil doesn’t play. So it’s obviously not his fault.… Read more »
People might not like it, but I thought Aubameyang was actually really poor today. We’ve been speaking a lot about him playing CF, we finally get him in the middle and he didn’t really even look arsed. No hold up or link up play, no pressure off the ball, not running channels. What’s up with him?
Improved a lot when Saka and Nelson came on, surely will get starts next game if Saka’s injury isn’t too bad. Hopefully we stick with 4 at the back as well.
My only constant criticism of Auba is that he hasnt really form up a partnership with anyone since he joined. Some players dont need one to flourish, but he isnt one of them. He relies on his speed to get in behind defences, he needs someone who knows his runs and can find him 80% of the time. Just aimlessly hoofing balls for him to chase is useless, the point is to get the ball to him along his prefer path to goal. Henry would have been much less prolific if he had to chase long balls like that all… Read more »
While I get that to an extent, if you launched a ball into Henry’s chest he would make it stick 9 times out of 10. He brought others into the game and made selfless runs. Aubameyang didn’t look like he was up the fight at all today. He’s not always going to get the ball on a plate for a tap in, he has roll up his sleeves and do the dirty work sometimes. Even more so because he’s captain.
Aubameyang is a world-class striker, but Henry was yet another cut above that. It’s like saying Van Dijk is no Paolo Maldini.
Need a lot more from Auba on the pitch and dressing room. He is the Cap and he needs to start acting like one as this team needs surely needs more motivation.
Saka looked more dangerous when he came on than the rest of the attack had managed in the entire game
Everyone is expecting miracles of Arteta. Look what he has to choose from.
In a short time he’s brought proper defensive stability to the team.
I can wait a few more windows and another season for the same impact on attacking front.
We’ve got the development of quality youngsters to look forward to. Enjoy the process.
Just the combination of Arteta and “windows” (as in multiple) scares the shite outta me. Here’s the why – how many “windows” did Emery get, and how many has Arteta had? Sure, we can see how December goes, and I continue to hope for now that Arteta can bring a drastic change in fortunes. Your last sentence is the clincher though. The players are starting to look as if they aren’t, and we (the fans) sure as shite aren’t. Winning the boring way isn’t the preferred destination but losing the boring way is unacceptable for the Arsenal. To quote Arteta,… Read more »
The defensive stability Arteta has got us is by having 11 players defend. They’ve all forgotten how to attack cohesively.
Emery didnt look like he had a plan however he still managed to get the team to push forward and get goals.
I really hope Arteta works this out, with each game we play we are starting to look like a Stoke team without the aggression.
Arteta isn’t the answer afterall, team performance in recent times show the importance of ozil
That red card really bothered me today. As a kid growing up in the states I’ve been teased many, many times for my love of football. Fans of American football would call me fag, or gayboy, or any number of stupid slurs. They’d constantly call me soft, but I knew that this game was about grit, character, and strength just as much as it was about skill and tactical brilliance. When I see a red card like I saw today though, I cant help but feel like maybe they had a point when they called me a pussy. Red cards… Read more »
To those giving me the thumbs down: can you tell me how I’m wrong? I genuinely dont want to feel this way.
I’ve heard that kind of crap about real football also. Yea, maybe some calls look like chickenshit, and there are a lot of theatrics by some players, but the head butt rule is pretty clear. Get in someone’s face and if your head goes forward you are going to see red, no ifs, ands, or buts.. No matter what anyone says it is supposed to be a gentlemen’s game especially at the Arsenal.
I suppose I get that. And you are right, one thing I have always admired about this team is the class we have on and off the pitch. I just look back fondly on moments like when Wilshere went head-first into Fellaini looking to have a go, or when Gerrard would immediately shoot up from a tackle to get in the opponent’s face. I felt like men were allowed to be men back then. Now I feel like we punish anyone who reveals they have testosterone.
That’s happening across society not just football. But is a whole other discussion im too irritated by Arsenal to have,.
Well, Vieira got sent off for kicking vaguely in the direction of van Nistelrooy only 17 years ago. It’s the intent more so than the actual reaction by the “assaulted” player – all Alioski did was ensure that VAR would be consulted. But Pepe himself was aware of VAR, so what’s his excuse?
As a football fan of any club you won’t always have it to it own way! And the last few seasons of the wenger era was painful at times but we always entertained alright we wasn’t threatening any sort of serious title challenge but the football was decent! Now we are treading water at best and it’s fucking boring to watch! I’m 40 in a few months and I’ve never seen such a negative boring Arsenal side, no flair no personality! So predictable 90 percent of the time! It’s a long back from here but you know what say! Arsenal… Read more »
There are some serious attitude problems with this team. After two weeks, these players were not on the same bookshelf, much less same book or page. Some players had some fight left in them- and it’s no coincidence that Arsenal were better after Pepe’s “I don’t care anymore” statement. Don’t know how much Arteta campaigned for Willian, but the pattern of incredibly bad player contract signings continue to hamstring progress. Just as the Ozil financial obligations ends, will we be saddled with a similar situation with Pepe? Will Salibas be half way through his contract before he sees first team… Read more »
It’s a game of fine margins. We were under the kosh for large periods but also had the two best chances to win the game with Saka going one on one and a clear cut, stonewall 2020 penalty not given. Not sure why people are calling for Artetas head when he’s clearly had a positive impact on us when the past year is taken as a whole. He overachieved with an FA Cup win last season and now people seem to think we should be challenging for the title or a champions league place? Also, for anyone who thinks Ozil… Read more »
Random thoughts on the game:
1. Team selection was good IMO, except for Willian, but can still understand having him in the team.
2. The substitutions were also spot on – taking Willian off at half time, using Saka, AMN and Nelson instead of Laca and Nketiah.
3. Good defensive work after the sending off – Gabriel in particular.
4. Willock didnt have a great game, but his role is very important – so hopefully he will get more chances.
Whoever sanctioned the Willian deal needs to be fired. Again i say it he isn’t even shit he just actively chooses to do nothing. Absolute pension player. Just faffs about taking touches and doing nothing. Makes Ozil look like he had hunger and desire. Oil tanker and Mr spin 4 times and pass back in the middle of the park…We have the worst cms in the league minus Partey. No pace or legs, Cant receive on the half turn or get out of a press with quick feet. Xhaxa especially.. Guy is shit and was never what we needed. How… Read more »
It must be one of MA’s non-negotiables. Or his process. Or whatever.
Set pieces were atrocious today (not to mention Hector’s foul throws)! I thought we had fixed that problem?! How have we become so bad again?
Agreed — I’ve never seen a team so religiously wasteful with an offering. My godness.
Cold comfort to see that with everything going on this year, and the season starting late, you can still set your clock to Arsenal’s November wobble.
Stop blaming players ,the problem is arteta ,his selection, his game plan are all poor.
When you expect Auba to defend most of the game then you know where the problem lies.
Auba Xhaka should be OUT..bring back Lacazette
…largely have to agree with blogs on these ratings. will try to stick to positives since have listed negatives beyond exhaustion. Won’t rate much of our first half but will say we got better second half a) BC they had the extra man advantage and went on us even more which left gaps. This played better to Auba up top b) BC we were down a man we were forced to carry the ball even more. we did do some of this first half which was encouraging but it tended to be all too disjointed. OTOH with space ins econd… Read more »
The Pepe incident sums up modern football really… he’s so hard he can put his forehead lightly into someone and the victim is such a pussy that he rolls around on the floor pretending to be hurt. They both should now be beaten up for 3 games in a row.
I’ve got faith in Mikel, and we need to see this project through but it’s hard not to be cocnerned and last night was the limit for me with some players. If that’s the last we ever see of Willian and Pepe we’ll have seen to much of them.
Does anyone have a 2003 save point we can reload… Please.