Result: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Arsenal
Competition: FA Cup
Date: 9 January 2021
Venue: Forest Ground
Arsenal: Leno, Cedric, White, Holding, Tavares, Lokonga, Patino, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Nketiah
Subs: Ramsdale, Tierney, Chambers, Mari, Kolasinac, Salah-Eddine, Hutchinson, Lacazette, Biereth
Lewis Grabban came off the bench to secure a 1-0 win for Nottingham Forest as Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup at the Forest Ground.
On a day when the Gunners produced a horribly lacklustre performance, the striker finished off a slick counter-attack on 84 minutes to condemn us to a second third round defeat by the hosts in four years.
Pre-game
On arrival at the City Ground, Mikel Arteta confirmed that he was without nine first team players for various reasons. Unable to call on Ainsley Maitland-Niles who completed his loan move to Roma yesterday, the boss was missing four players on international duty at the AFCON (Partey, Aubameyang, Pepe and Elneny) as well as Granit Xhaka and Folarin Balogun, who both tested positive for Covid-19, and Emile Smith Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who were struggling with groin and calf issues respectively. As a result, the starting lineup was a real mish-mash. The most noteworthy inclusion was Charlie Patino, making his first start for the club, in midfield alongside Sambi Lokonga. Bernd Leno, Rob Holding and Cedric provided experience at the back while the attack was spearheaded by Eddie Nketiah with Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli providing support.
First Half
When you’re facing lower league opposition away from home, you’re always hoping for a fast start that might shut up the excitable crowd. What we got instead was such a flat opening 45 minutes that everybody at the Forest Ground would have been forgiven for taking a nap before the break.
Both sides struggled to keep the ball and chances at either were consequently at a premium. Arguably the biggest talking point of the half (aside from us wearing white kits to launch the No More Red campaign) was Mikel Arteta’s decision to substitute Nuno Tavares after just 34 minutes. He wasn’t best pleased about it and threw his gloves to the ground in disgust as Kieran Tierney replaced him. It was probably the right call by the boss who was distinctly unimpressed by the Portuguese left-back’s errant passing.
In midfield, we looked lightweight with Rob Holding and Ben White all too often trying to take responsibility rather than give the ball to Sambi Lokonga and Charlie Patino. Whatever their reasoning, it wasn’t like they did anything good with the ball at their feet. Holding on several occasions passed to nobody in particular and his half was really summed up by a volleyed attempt from 20-yards that hit the corner flag.
While White, Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka did come a little closer with efforts of their own, the Forest keeper Brice Samba was rarely troubled. White had a decent claim for a penalty when he was hauled down by a shirt tug in the box but referee Craig Pawson didn’t see it and with no VAR to fall back on, the incident went unpunished.
Second half
when winger Brennan Johnson, leaving Rob Holding in his wake, picked out Philip Zinckernagel at the near post. The Dane’s first time effort forced Leno into a very decent save.
At the other end, Saka produced a golden chance for Nketiah but the striker, climbing at the back post to meet a curling cross, made a total hash of his header. It wasn’t quite so bad as the miss at Everton in December but it wasn’t far off.
Leno was called into action for a second time just past the hour mark with James Garner’s free-kick destined for the top corner. As Bukayo Saka chased down the free ball he was lucky not to concede a penalty clattering into Jack Colbert.
Nketiah went wide with another effort before Arteta introduced Lacazette to lend him a hand up front. Patino, who struggled to get into the game, made way leaving Odegaard to drop deeper alongside Lokonga.
Martinelli took a booking for the team after hacking down Djed Spence, who in turn went into Pawson’s book for a foul on Tierney.
It was all very scrappy and we still couldn’t find another gear. If anything it felt like we were being lured into a trap. The more we committed men forward, the more Forest looked to hit us on the break. Eventually, their tactic paid dividends. After Lokonga gave the ball away, the home side broke down the right and a dangerous cross was converted by substitute Grabban. (1-0)
We had eight minutes to find a goal, or at least to create a chance, and Arteta’s final throw of the dice, which came in stoppage time, involved switching Cedric for Sead Kolasinac. It was a bizarre decision, despite the lack of options on the bench, and did nothing to change the state of the game.
Having built up some momentum at the tail-end of 2021, we’ve now suffered two defeats in a row, albeit in very different circumstances, and face a tough couple of weeks turning things around with games against Liverpool and Sp*rs. Hmm.
Shite performance. To a man, really disappointing. Laboured. Slow. We got bossed all over the park. As dismal as we’ve played all season. But d’you know what? I’m not too fussed. Yes, I love the FA Cup and its tradition and I’m very proud of our record in it. But what do we prove by winning it? This is a tiny squad and, even without European football, we are looking short. Plus, Leicester in the next round. Another gruelling match against top opposition. Right now, anything that gives us an advantage in our quest for top four is ok with… Read more »
We gona miss partey alot.
I agree I feel to many people diss partey. This next month will show what life in the midfield is like without partey and so far it’s not looking good. The midfield wasn’t just bad it was practically non-existent
Spot on. What worried me most was that Lokonga was hiding instead of asserting himself in the heart of midfield.
I really hope the wheels don’t fall off. Liverpool scum them Liverpool. We are so short in the middle and up front. Covid, injury and we are in serious trouble if we ain’t already. No midfield. Nketia is bang average and needs to be shown the door. Can’t believe artetas motive in playing him.
I think we are a young team that need to get taught a lesson every once in a while. Everton was a lesson. United was a lesson. City was a lesson. And tonight was definitely a lesson.
There will be ups and downs. And some performances will make us think we were mad to even consider us making top 4. But I expect United and Sp*rs to drop plenty of points too.
It’ll probably come down to who is the least shit.
I do agree that this should be a lesson too, but I am just not convinced that Arteta can better Conte as long as top 4 chances are concerned. As much as this team is work in progress the same goes for Arteta. He has got many things right but the one thing that is really worrying is his in game management where he seems to be completely incapable to adjust or change anything if the plan A is not working. Disregarding the quality or the level of the opposition. And after 2 years and 100 games in charge one… Read more »
I like Eddie but ‘bang average’ is exactly right.
Can’t think of a more inept striker than Eddie in a while. Yaya Sanogo despite his seemingly lack of pace, had some pretty good hold up play. Numerous times Yaya was bought on as a sub and impacted the game in some way. I can’t recall the number of times the ball is played to Eddie and he passes it straight back to our centrebacks. And that missed header as well. Good God, the sooner we get rid the better.
Nketiah just isn’t very good. Holding was probably just as bad today, truly awful.
I don’t mind going out but that was a shocking performance and worrying subs again from Arteta.
However if we can focus on 4th it’s fine
It was pretty hard to understand any of the decisions during the game. Our midfield was a gaping hole and I know the available players made it difficult but Sambi was alone out there.
I don’t know why White or Chambers weren’t in with a shout, even Saka or bringing Odegaard deeper sooner. Poor Patino was non-existent and Lokonga just looked off the pace.
Don’t think Arteta had much options. Today was all on the players. Tavares and Holding especially set the tone,
You don’t mind Arsenal going out in the 3rd round?
Because champions league football is a guaranteed shoe in isn’t it?
Jesus christ….
Yeah, looking forward to that Champions League campaign if we play like this.
Terrible performance but not sure Arteta had too much on the bench to make a huge amount of difference. Possibly could’ve brought on Laca a bit earlier but I understand why he was hesitant in bringing him on.
Lost it in midfield I thought. Sambi didn’t have a great game & Patino’s a bit too inexperienced for this level
I thought it was a brave (but right) decision taking off Tavares, he almost embodied the performance today, lackadaisical and pedestrian.
I remember in 08 when we put out a 2nd team against Utd and got hammered 4 nil. We had the same attitude and thought it would help us win the league.
I can’t agree with that.
We deserved to lose, but it still hurts
LOVE THIS because you articulated my exact feelings perfectly.
I am not too fussed about that loss.
So you place the mickey mouse cup over the FA cup?
And what makes you think that being knocked out so early in the FA cup gives us an advantage?
I just see this for what it is – a failure and a route into europe closed. As if we have many of those…
I bet you’re fun at parties…
If we’re not currently 4th, missing out on the FA Cup will not be as nonchalant as you’d put it. And that’s really the danger here, you (and some others) seem to think 4th is almost certain, when in reality Spurs are better positioned. And we play them next in the league with a depleted squad and theirs almost at full strength (mostly due to the stupidly timed AFCON), that’s a 6 pointer right there for a top 4 spot. Losing one way path to Europe is really never a benefit. No matter how you try and spin it. Plus… Read more »
“And we might just look back at this result as a factor if we do somehow get there.” “…if we do somehow get there.” Yeah, that’s the language of a person who thinks top 4 is a cert. We will finish top 6 this season, of that I have no doubt. And as I said before, I don’t know how an FA Cup win (if we did get through 5 more rounds) pushes the needle forwards. I’m not happy. Far from it. But I can see a bigger picture. But by all means, keep riding the Arsenal seesaw if you… Read more »
We should never wear white again, it’s a loser’s colour…
Though it was an excellent cause.
“No more red” ironic, it’s all I can see tonight
It was intended to draw attention to knife crime but mostly served to showcase how utterly anaemic Arsenal looked.
Women’s team also wore all white and lost to bottom of the league – a bad days for The Reds
Both teams thought they were spuds for a day.
The ladies played in yellow, but anaemic is the best word to sum up their performance as well..
The ladies wore yellow but they were as equally inept as the men today
The ladies wore yellow, the men were yellow!
The kit was the best thing about today
‘No more red’ was the slogan, they did what they said…
Awful
Now I know why Lokonga has been sitting on the bench.
He needs time…but yea not near ready yet.
He’s very young, he’s had Covid and he hasn’t played for a while. It was a huge ask expecting him and Patino to hold the midfield against a physical team like Forest.
Patino was very poor today but you’d give him a pass, Ben white was really poor for the goal
This was a gift for Steve Cooper. I watched his Swansea side bully Brentford in the playoffs a couple of seasons ago. They are not a pretty watch but he’s canny and organised. Arsenal were terrible but shorn of too many of our best players. We weren’t too fortunate with that draw. It’s a joke how Chelski and Citeh always seem to get lower league sides. Not hiding the fact we were crap tonight but this was a tough championship side. Men against boys.
We got a lower league side too.
He was completely isolated and being man marked, he made errors but had no support
The boy is 21 for crying out loud. He is still developing his chops in a crucial position.
You put too much expectations on the shoulders of young kids, they can crumble under it.
Allow him grow at his pace; no hype, no huge expectations.
I’m not throwing him under the bus and his potential is apparent. I am saying that he showed today that’s he’s not ready to displace anyone that is currently getting games ahead of him. Elneny included.
Yeah, loads of potential but definitely needs more time.
It was hardly just him. When players lack game time for so long, you can fully expect this kind of sleepy performance.
AMN was a big miss today… hard to understand the logic in loaning him, he could’ve steadied the ship in the middle today. Instead it looks like we’re going to ask Patino to sink or swim. Lad is quality, but far too early for him at this level.
Utility players are useful
He was poor…But he was also left alone in midfield against physical opposition which seems to be his weakness.
All that young, vibrant talent on the pitch. This manager has been backed by 125M pounds of spend in the summer. We created absolutely zero. We don’t even have Europe this season – no excuses on being tired, nothing. Just a terrible performance. I don’t want any more stories from James and the athletic on the vibe within arsenal. Just stop.
There is/was always going to be blips and surprise results in this project.
But with no Europe or FA Cup, we can now afford to play the strongest 11 in every game remaining this season including the League Cup.
Strange comment. Not sure 1 bad performance with a changed squad means that we have to dismiss the general upward trend so far this season.
Spoiler alert, there’ll be a few more bad performances before the end of the season
Well said
Those young vibrant players are what we have. Chelsea would have put them all out on loan as they hoover up most of the big European off the peg talent for their first team. Could you imagine us putting a player the quality of Conor Gallagher out on loan??
Woah, the truth will get ya down voted around here and criticism of Xhaka. Desensitised to mediocrity, so many.
That’s the great thing about opinions innit? Everybody’s got theirs & no one gotta agree with yours even if you think it’s the “truth”
Chill out mate
Then don’t fucking read the stories. I hope James keep writing those accurate stories, to balance out the doom and gloom muppets.
You’re like those two old guys on the balcony – bad for the vibe, but comic relief at your end of the world BS.
1. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. We got what we deserved.
2. The subs are driven by sone kind of arrogance. Late or revengeful like Tavares.
3. Having said that I am not so frustrated for the result given our squad depth. 8t is obvious that the back ups are some distance from the starters.
4. Hopefully people won’t jump into Patino Tavares Lokonga for their dreadful appearances.
Tavares deserved to be subbed…Was not up for it at all.
Did you not watch Tavares? What makes you think that was a ‘vengeful’ substitution?
Tavares and Nketiah had shockers, but it’s Sambi’s performance that has me the most worried. Hopefully he got the rustiness out today and will be sharp against Spurs.
Hoping we have plans to bring in reinforcements in midfield this window. It’s definitely needed with Xhaka testing positive & who knows who else will have to isolate.
I’m guessing with the decision to let AMN leave on loan we’ve got something in the works even if it’ll be too soon for the NLD
Very concerned by the performances of Lakonga and Taveres. Would say the same about Cedric too, but “concern” would be the wrong word. Bewilderment would be more appropriate. At the signing and the fact we might be turning down Athletico’s loan bid for him
Crazy that Cedric was ever made an Arsenal player in the first place
He’s going nowhere until Summer 2024, he can’t believe his luck
I’d add Nketiah to those three. He’s a decent 6 yard box striker, but Arteta needs much more in his system and Eddie consistently struggles to impose himself
Even from within 6 yards he missed that header
Not sure why you are singling him out. He wasn’t very good, but I thought Tavares, Nketiah, Patino, Lokonga, and Holding were all worse than Cedric today.
The quicker we part ways with Nketiah is the better…
But, he scored a hat trick against League 1 opposition, AND has a “cool” celebration
And Cedric….
and Holding…
Holding was uncharacteristically bad today. Normally he’s dependable, and a good third choice for now. On the other hand, Nketiah, apart from one good 90 minutes against League One opposition, has never impressed.
I don’t think Holding is normally dependable. Always a risk on headed clearances, not enough pace for a Premier League centre half, often poor decisions. And, honestly, he is a player I have always liked and still like for his spirit, his determination. But I loved Coquelin too.
Holding was at fault for the city winner.. i know he must be rusty but he wont ever be good enough. I wouldn’t even call him dependable He is like Xhaxa..We make do. When there should be far better.
Looked like he was a player trying to turn the heads of other clubs in the first half, probably accomplished quite the opposite by full time
That’s why I am confused why we are trying to convince him to stay. His decision-making leaves a lot to be desired.
Dont know what Arteta sees in him or why he is trying so hard to hold on to him…You know who we could have used today, Niles..
That was abysmal!
Should just have played with Lacazette since the beginning, it’s a world of a difference between two individuals near the end of their contracts: one is a senior professional player that still gives his full commitment and is the oil that glues the Odegaard + Martinelli + Saka spearhead, while the other is leaving, plays like he’s an individual player trying to show the market why he thinks he is better than he actually is, but still can’t hold ball, can’t shoot & can’t score header in front of goal. Should have started with Alex Lacazette.
Absolutely start Lacazette. Seriously worried with artetas motive in starting and then staying with nketia. Clear as day a couple of times he is playing for himself and he’s not that good. Then brings on lacazette and plays him deep. Mental
Lacazette has played a lot of football and will be leading the line against Liverpool on Thursday. I suspect if Arteta had started Lacazette and he got injured then you’d be saying that was mental too.
That’s mental 😂😂 by your logic don’t play saka or martinelli or odegarrd. Soppy cxxt 😂😂
Seriously, you don’t see the difference between resting Lacazette and resting youngsters?
Lacazette is 30. What are talking about 😂😂
I could see why he didnt want to risk Laca…and he probably would have started Balogun. This Nketiah thing needs to stop though,
I get ya but jeez half time was clear we were in danger of going out of cup. take nketia off and put lacazette up top.
I dunno if it would have made a difference, Laca was shite when he came on..The Big problem was the 2cbs and 2 cms. Movement was also poor which didn’t help. One of those games we could play for weeks and not score.
TBF, Forest played Saka exactly as they should and stopped him cutting inside most of the time which made us very predictable. Eddie may score for England youth but has never looked ready for first team. Sambi was anonymous and Patino overawed. Holding too slow to move it forward. Cedric pitiful. Gabi tried hard but too many blind alleys. Generally passing and movement was awful.
Shoulda woulda coulda but I’d prefer a fully fit Laca for the Liverpool Sp*ds Liverpool triple header.
You can see why Arteta left Lafayette out. He always struggles to make 90 minutes and we have no other option in the middle for the league games.
the bigger problem is why we don’t have someone capable as a backup. Eddie just doesn’t have the motivation any longer now he is going.
He also gets easily distracted by revolutions and died in 1832
Shoulda played Robespierre. Cutting edge.
Heard he’s bloody awful at headers though
This thread just gets better and better. You lads are really…
sharp?
Excuses, excuses. If Arteta was a better man manager I’m sure he could’ve got a tune out him even if he’s been dead for over a century
Haha. Brilliant and what the hell is my phone on!
Turgid gobshitery of the highest order. Not ideal circumstances with so many out but there seemed to be no plan.
So many players, so little depth
I get the good cause and all that,,,
But lets never play in that Spurs fancy dress kit again. We even played like the cunts,,,,
I remember someone on here recently suggested Lokonga was no way subpar after I had said we needed some more midfield experience..
You could say Ödegaard and a lot of players were subpar.. You could say Ben White was subpar.. It was one game and he hasn’t played for a while. He was partnered by a scared kid. Give it a rest.
Ode and White were definetely not subpar..He’s made mistakes in other games this season. He’s not ready yet.
He’s played very well in other games to show he’s not “subpar”. The games I’ve seen with him he’s mainly been very impressive. He’s not ready but to call him subpar is just toxic negativity. He’s had more impressive performances than “subpar” ones unlike Nketiah.
I agree it’s just toxic negativity. But should that not apply to Eddie as well?.
I thought Holding was the worst of the lot.
Balding men seem to give Holdings bang averageness a pass because of what an incredible job he’s done up there. I mean wow swit swoo!!
That barnet was unbelievably distracting. Does not help Holdings cause because it made me notice every single error.
I’m not blaming the result on 3 players because it was poor all around, but Nketiah’s contract offer needs to be ripped up.
Holding should go and get relegated with Newcastle.
Cedric just ruined any small chance of going to Atletico. They’re probably offering lower wages, so he’s comfortable now
Lost count the amount of times White and Holding held on to the ball, ran forward a bit then simply gave it away with a dodgy pass
Thought that was alot of the reason why we were so so poor. Kept stepping out into Lokonga and Patinos areas. Holding in particular was shite.
Think that may’ve been a byproduct of not having anyone in midfield to advance the ball & not enough movement to provide decent options when white/holding did. Didn’t mind either of them taking the initiative to make something happen when no one else was
This. The midfield was stagnant, not not moving to pick up the ball, create a tempo, linkage to the forwards, telling passes, anything to unsettle Forest. White and Holding still dawdled but Patino and Lokonga were a naive and unready starting pairing. Not that we had many options. I think I’d have dropped Odegaard into the 8 and played Saka centrally in the game, and if a young player were to start put them out wide.
Think we may do exactly that against spurs. Drop MØ deeper & maybe play ESR in at 10. Clear to see we needed loads more creativity in midfield that Sambi just wasn’t providing. Not a criticism of him, just a fact atm
I agree with having no one to advance the ball, But..White and Holding where taking too long to pass also. Don’t think either trusted Sambi or Patino. Between the four of them they were awful and were alot of the reason why we were so bad. I tend to blame White and Holding more as they are the experienced guys so should have problem solved. We didn’t even move the ball quickly in the horseshoe pattern. Holding played about 15 aimless long balls and stepped out and lost it on at least a dozen occasions. His hair made it impossible… Read more »
Fair comment, but I think the lack of movement ahead of them made it hard to release the ball quicker.
Agree that neither Sambi or obvs Patino deserves too much criticism. Hard for either to impose themselves when one’s right out of the academy & the other’s finding match fitness
Absolutely. But maybe if Partey and Xhaka had been in front of them, that would not have happened. Patino–and I honestly believe he will be a very good player in the future–had no idea of how to play the position, how to position himself or move to help the centre halves or Lokonga, and certainly o idea of how to get the ball to anyone in front of him. Way over his head.
Tavares was bullied by MA. If it was performance, you could easily pick any of the 10 in field players as proof of shit performance. That’s really poor man management. Cruel and unnecessary.
Stop it. At that point in the game we were ok and he was the one that looked like potentionally making a critical error that could lead to a goal (which he’s done before).
No I won’t. Just as MA gets credit when he does well same as when he messes up. He could have waited 5 minutes to sub him. Instead he chose a power on a young player in a Team already playing shit. In the end, it changed and helped nothing.
If you have to make a point to your team do it at the expense of a pointless old contract squatter like Cedric, who was every bit as poor. Not a young player who has actually shown good promise and hunger on the whole. Or just bring him off at half time and it’s not even an issue
What are the chances he’s going to be frozen out now too?
Tbh it was the right change to make. He was absolutely dreadful to start.
Could it not have waited until Half time. He was hardly the only underperforming player.
No he was literally almost scoring own goals, he had 64% passing accuracy.. He passed the ball away 8 times, he missed receiving a simple pass. He was an extreme liability and it had to be dealt with instantly. Were you not watching?
Out of interest, why would it have been alright to sub him at half time but not 10 minutes earlier?
No he was particularly bad today which can happen but all the outfield players were dreadful today hoping them that gives them the kick up the arse they need but I think the normal cycle with us at the min is three good three bad.
He looked mentally unprepared…Everybody was shit but he didn’t even look alert or aware that he was playing football.
His ancestor Kolasinac made an appearance the ghost of Christmas past. Does tavares become Kola or clichy. Tune in next week to find out
Bullied? Held accountable, more like. This will be a lesson that Nuno will remember, and all of the other young players will take note of. Remember that Arteta gave Nuno an immediate reprieve following his Liverpool mare earlier in the season and played him several more games despite Tierney being fit. He’s ok with mistakes. He saw something else today that was intolerable.
Partey will be sorely missed in that middle.
Lokonga will cost us points.
Huh?
Is what goes through my head.
Huh?
Is what went through every player on that pitch bar Leno’s head today.
I think from the 60th minute on my mouth was just handing open in disbelief at what I was seeing and how bad it was
As soon as they brought Grabban & that weird facial fuzz of his on, you knew he was scoring the winner
Great name for a punk band that… ‘Weird Facial Fuzz’
Shockingly bad performance from almost everyone out there. I know it was far from our best XI out there but I have no idea what Arteta’s plan was for the game. Just disappointing to see so many individual poor performances in a game that was crying out for someone (besides White or Holding) to take some control in the midfield. As Johnny 4 Hats says, there may be silver linings to being out of this competition in the weeks to come, and at least it’s not like we deserved anything more than we got from the game, but my god… Read more »
White and Holding refused to trust Sambi and Patino with the ball then preceded to do no better with whatever it was they were trying to do with it. Extra irritated with Holding because his hair was distracting me.
Just so poor. Shows how we’re lacking in midfield, just two decent players and one in Africa and up front Nketiah again not good enough and the wide players nullified. Perhaps they believed all that stuff after the City game, which by the way we lost, and they need to get back to basics and why let AMN go when we’re so short unless Xavi and Iniesta are about to sign.
We move on, but we really have to play the strongest team possible against Liverpool in the League Cup.
If Xhaka don’t recover then that is our strongest midfield. Can’t believe I am missing Xhaka 😂😂
On the positive side at least Thierry Henry would have been able to watch the game on his TV as Xhaka weren’t playing (source Patrice Evra) shame the performance was so bad though
He will. No doubt about that
Can’t we just claim we have too much covid and get the game postponed?…
They threw that game today. Nobody looked remotely bothered during or after the game. Happy to be humiliated in front of the tv cameras by an average championship team who simply wanted to win a lot more. We should look to get some game postponed before we bring new players in.
We underestimated our opponents…were too worried about our kits and transfers than our next game. Look at the energy/urgency between this game and Man City…we were arrogant and lazy and we couldn’t switch it on.
I very much doubt anybody was “worried” about the kit. Some PR guy figured it was a good idea and it was given to the players to wear. That’s it.
Has nothing to do with their performance, or lack thereof.
I know. My point is that we seem distracted and Nottingham Forest were an afterthought
totally agree… yet again thought we were too good/too big for them and they should be honoured to share the pitch with us pathetic by all bar Bernd Leno. Arteta man management yet again on display as he seeks to humiliate a young player in order to “stamp his authority on the club”. But hey, that Kola sub with 30 seconds left was a masterstroke. Nketiah, Cedric, Holding are not at the required level; White looks very ordinary when Gabriel is not there. rest of them simply unmotivated, poor performances. guess no one told them what the FA cup means… Read more »
We had a very young team out there against tough, experienced opponents. They were basically the only players we have fit and available. Some of them have had Covid and may not be totally up to speed, others haven’t played in a while, Some, like Cedric, Eddie and Rob Holding aren’t first choice players. Nobody was arrogant or lazy, this is a learning curve in very difficult circumstances and there will be more bumps along the way. Hopefully Granit and Emile are recovered in time for the Liverpool game.
Our defensive midfield did not turn up tonight. In hindsight, since the players for 4-2-3-1 were not available, a formation change might have been appropriate.
A pathetic Arsenal performance that got what it deserved.
We couldn’t string two passes in midfield and the couple of chances we made were fluffed by the hopeless Nketia.
We made an average Championship team look like Brazil of 1970.
The good thing now is that it clears the calendar for a run at top four.
I think the pool will clear the calendar for us to have a run at top four. Top six is probably where we are at this season.
We’re a young team, but i think there are certain players in our squad that, when selected, signal a passivity to the rest and bring the intensity down. At least 3 of them started this afternoon in my opinion and the whole team was brought down at least partially because of it. Today we had a really youthful spine to the team and it showed. Most played with fear. Fear of mistakes, fear of collisions and fear of taking the initiative when others around them wont. Some of our young players are a long long way from regular first team… Read more »
I also am going to point a pinkie finger at Leno. I have no doubt that Ramsdale would have been chewing asses out there. Leno stoic and silent, and he’s one of the senior ones.
Why did Maitland-Niles play right-back for Roma today when he could have been playing in midfield for Arsenal. The club should have delayed that transfer by a week.
That’s on him
He was part of a team that conceded 4 goals and was largely terrible. You think he would’ve been the difference maker do you?
Yes. Maitland-Niles in midfield instead of Patino would have made a difference.
To be honest everyone played terribly today. But Tavares was especially bad, every single play it seemed like he made the wrong decision and was forcing the ball. It was embarrassing and I am now really worried on what the rest of the month will be like
I really hope that show of petulance was anger at his own performance rather then being hauled off because he can’t have no complaints at that. I think the only surprise is Mikel didn’t haul him off after that piss poor back pass to Leno
I hope he was angry with himself. I felt a little sorry for him but then the petulance looked like he didn’t understand why he was being subbed. If he didnt have the self awareness to know how bad he was playing thats worrying.
Imagine we did have a Covid outbreak and asked the Liverpool game to be postponed. That would give the FA some interesting decisions to make.
Blogs, I think if you do the player ratings as if they were 5 year old’s playing in mini league football, it take the edge off this hugely disappointing shitshow.
Arsenal gave more priority over knife crime than they did preparing and working to win this tie.
A social outreach program that no one it is aimed at will take any notice of has cost us a route into Europe and the chance of a trophy.
Keep the community work off the pitch and concentrate on what you are paid millions to do…
The stupidity of this comment is unparalleled.
I don’t think the players did anything above and beyond what they would do week in week out (including usual Arsenal PR stuff).
Pretty sure Arsenal Football Club have a marketing department which is completely separate from the coaching and playing staff.
Yeah – Bukayo was up until 3am the night before the game finalising the Insta and Facebook ad-boost schedules!… Mindless comment, Leon.
Yes, I’m sure all their pre-match preparations were just knife-crime outreach.
In fact, during the halftime break, Mikel just showed them a bunch of knife crime statistics.
In fact, it was because of this deeply internalized opposition to knife crime that Arsenal were blunt, had no attacking edge, and no penetration. Ironically, they ultimately fell on their own sword.
Think maybe the money raised might make a difference to the ppl that really need it & I doubt those ppl would give a flying f@#k about the result
I’m not sure much thought was given to this comment unfortunately. Knife crime, and ultimately people’s lives, just might be more important than a game of football. Just sayin’
This demonstrates how important a quick start is. The team just could not recover any sort of tempo and reverted to the passing around the back, even in the last 30 seconds.
Nketiah is only good in training. There is nothing special about him. Average goalscorer.
This kind of performance was what we saw at the start of the season. Leno gives a short pass to the CBs, who then takes ages to ponder a simple pass to midfield. Last year it was David Luiz and Holding, today it was White and Holding. Looks like Holding and White won’t make a great partner in defense, both too similar. Were they instructed not to pass to Lokonga and Patino on the half turn? Bewildering. Martinelli and Saka both tried to up the intensity, but it wasn’t matched by the rest of the team. Cedric was a passenger,… Read more »
That was awful to watch. Eye bleeding stuff. Everybody was shocking and I know Tavares had a mare but WTH was Holding doing today.
Strangely not that fussed about going out but its the performance that was a real slap to the face.
Holding held his hair intact for 90 minutes.
It was incredibly distracting and ,made me notice every single error he made.
Why didn’t we let Ainsley go after this week?
Shocking incompetence.
Or we have someone better suited on there way in. Who knows, probably better to wait & see.
In which case we should have kept Ainsley on hold until a new signing put pen to paper.
Bit too late to wait and see now we’ve already been knocked out the cup.
Possibly our transfer plans this window might be a bit more complicated than what you’re making out & maybe for reasons we’re not privy to holding out until after this fixture wasn’t an option?
Truth is neither of us know for sure
Amn has played for us in midfield, and for WBA. That’s why Jose is playing him at wing back. The only mistake is that we didn’t take the money from wolves.
Serious question – did we have a shot on goal?
Saka or Nketiah hit the side-netting, that’s all I can remember.
The only thing Eddie hit was the wall… again!
No
Dreadful performance by all. Perhaps we have not made that much progress after all? Cedric was poor!
I don’t get to see many live matches, and, after seeing that, I’m still not sure I have, our entire team looked like death warmed up. As much as anything else, they really looked out of sorts. We did learn one or two things though. Whatever the question is in the Central Striker position, Eddie Nketiah is not the answer, not at the top level. Charlie Patino isn’t ready yet. If Cedric is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question. Saka needs a decent partner behind him at right back. You need at least one of Xhaka… Read more »
No more Red in the FA Cup then. Went out in style didn’t we.
The only good thing about today is that Gabriel can play the next match.
Forest are professional football players. As Arsenal’s players, they have also done nothing but football for the last 10-15 years. They are among a very exclusive group of full time players, the best among millions of hopeful boys. They must be expected to be rather good at the ball, shoot well and run fast. So how do you beat them? The answer is obviously: By playing faster then them. Turn the play faster from left to right and up and down the field. Arsenal were too slow tonight. I think our temps in defensive midfield were not really up to… Read more »
Nketiah is gonna have it tough playing as a striker against big lads. No threat whatsoever. We need a striker who is quite good at all qualities a striker should possess if we’re to make top 4 this season
Smash & Grabban
Someone should talk about Pawson. There is a gang at PGMOL happy to see Arsenal falter and if they can help it they will.
Colback’s defending of Saka was illegal tonight not even a yellow.
The tug on BW’s shirt. Nothing.
Counter attack leading to goal started with a handball. Nothing given.
I think the boys knew this and some days you just want to go to bed with nonsense you know you shouldn’t be dealing with.
There was no VAR tonight otherwise White surely would have had a penalty.
Yeah but Saka got away with one later too.
Everyone was terrible today why pick on Tavares and potentially alienate the player it was terrible management
If he took Tavares out within 30mins he probably should’ve taken Patino off after the first half..
Lokonga was really bad too
We hyped Balogun and the reality was painful. We hyped Patino, same story. Boy was out of his depth against mid-table Championship opposition. When will we learn?
Don’t think Patino was out of his depth but to each his/her own. I thought the gameplan wasn’t clear at all, and neither Patino, Odegaard or Lokonga had enough of the ball to influence the game. The ball was constantly stuck between Holding, White, Tierney, and Cedric. By the time it was released to Saka/Martinelli they have too many bodies to beat. The players had no intensity and was to blame, but the gameplan also played to Forest’s hands.
Think most appreciate neither are ready for the prem league but are worth investing in for the future.
I blame the “all white” kit. I’m all for “No More Red”, but you go about dressed like the Spuds, you’re in all likelihood going to be shit.
It did break the golden rule of Arsenal kits- don’t make a kit that looks like Spurs!
Disgusting. Embarrassing no desire, no movement. I know we are short on players but Jesus Christ that was shocking
If we don’t buy players we are not going to Europe…😂 banter club