Aaron Ramsdale says Arsenal played into Burnley’s hands by lumping balls into the box on an afternoon when the Gunners lacked the attacking spark to beat the Premier League’s bottom club.
Knowing a win would carry see us climb up to fourth in the table, the Gunners dropped two vital points with a lacklustre 0-0 draw at the Emirates.
Having lost in stoppage time to Manchester City and exited both domestic cup competitions, the result caps an abject January for Mikel Arteta’s squad.
After the match, Ramsdale told Arsenal.com: “We didn’t really take the game to them, I’ll give credit to Burnley, they defended well.
“We put balls in the box and that’s meat and drink to Burnley, so it’s a difficult one. It’s definitely a missed opportunity for three points and to gain places back in the league but I’ll take the positive of a clean sheet, with the defending of the whole team. But definitely a frustrating day.
“It is down to [fatigue]. It’s a difficult one to say because I’m not the one running about every three or four days like those lads have been doing, but with the quality we had on the pitch, we could have got more.
“We had most of the ball and we could have made more chances, but I can’t fault any of the effort the lads have put in, defending or attacking wise, it was just a bit if quality we missed and also a few good saves from Popey [Nick Pope] as well.”
Manager Mikel Arteta was left similarly frustrated. The boss lamented a ponderous first half, a wasteful second and the fact one of his players couldn’t produce a moment of magic to dig the Gunners out of a hole.
“The way we started the game, it was slow and we didn’t play forward enough and didn’t have enough urgency,” he said.
“Probably because of Thursday, it could be one of the reasons. Afterwards, we picked the game up and started to get better, and certainly, the second half was completely different.
“We were much more dynamic, we had more penetration, we played forward and we had better positions to (threaten them) in behind and the width, in many situations. We created a number of situations, shots, crosses.
“But to win this match you need to have a different level of quality, and we lacked that today. With the amount of situations we generated, you need a spark, and someone has to win you the game, if you want to be on top.”
Nothing more needs to be said. Everybody knows all those crosses into the box wasn’t the way to break Burnley down
They attempted 34 crosses today against Burnley, only 3 found an Arsenal player.
Sounds like Happy Gilmour putting…”Just tap it in”!
Like who’s fucking surprised at all by that? Burnley’s whole game plan was to stay compact within the width of the 18 yard with two banks of four and force us wide because they knew that Lacazette would literally never win a single fucking header against their centre halves. At certain points in the game they were so content in their shape, they actually stopped aggressively pressing us in the channels and allowed us to the put the ball in because they were that confident we weren’t scoring. They knew we are only dangerous in transition so opted to offer… Read more »
To counter that, I’d argue that when city play burnley, they don’t change their style, they simply implement their style better than Burnley can implement theirs. So I’d argue that that’s what arteta is striving for: perfect dominance. We’re just not there yet. But if you look at this long-term, it makes sense.
Is that not a coaching issue perhaps?
Practice for when vlahovic arrives? 😅
Trust the process loool
Pretty scathing rebuke from Ramsdale there and you cannot really argue with it!
Absolutely. Really don’t know why Arteta didn’t roll the dice with one of the youngsters like Hutchinson or Biereth late in the match, or even Patino.
Burnley were in top “we’re here to frustrate you” form, and the ref was loving it, but we needed more from everyone, especially Arteta today.
Hey, at least Arteta put in a shift.
Didn’t you see when he took off running after that Burnley player towards the end?
He seems to have a tendency in games where teams sit deep to just overload with forward players and having them all play far forward. It was basically Lokonga (and kinda White too who was really poor today) sitting in front of Gabriel and then Holding very deep. And then a line of almost 6 players drifting in and around the edge of the box. It was a bit daft. Naturally we were forced through the left channel (since Saka was so isolated and had zero overlap). All we could try and do was skip around their wide defenders and… Read more »
I noticed that too, every time Lokonga got the ball it was just… a line… of Arsenal players standing still next to their markers. Sambi just standing there alone like, “I guess I’ll just pass it to Holding”. This formation does not work (without serious movement and positional interchange).
Think Eddie did well when he came on.
He certainly came on.
Do you mean he ably managed to walk on to the pitch? Cos he did sod all bar that. Plus he wants to leave. Boneheaded to even have him in the squad really.
Absolutely spot on from the big man. This walking it out from defence then passing it sideways and back for 90 minutes has got to stop if we’re to become anything other than a Spursy outfit that makes up the numbers. I get that the squad is stretched to breaking point and the current first XI are all knackered, but that’s no excuse for not moving the ball quicker and working smarter as opposed to harder. There are massive lessons to be learnt right now about our squad depth, the annual AFCON missing list and continual safety first tactics that… Read more »
Let’s sign a couple of guys. Even if they don’t work out we’ll say the coach tried. It doesn’t have to be Vlahovic or Guimares; anyone who can go out there and give his all. That’s how low our standards are
Interesting comments from Ramsdale. I would assume that if the reliance on crosses was an Arteta instruction, Ramsdale wouldn’t have openly criticised the tactic in an interview. And if it WASN’T an Arteta instruction, well, that realises some very serious questions about Arteta and his in-game management
if you’ve followed closely, baring one game, of 100 since MA is in charge, where introduction of ESR changed our game and turned it into our win, Arteta never ever managed to change anything when the games were not running in our favour. Disregarding the strength of the oposition or the options he has had on the bench. Never. And it is serious flow for a manager. He diid many things right and did them wel but his in-game management has been awfull ever since he started and he needs to pick it up urgently if we are ever to… Read more »
he wont
The concern grows in me. I just don’t feel like Arteta is the real one. Most premier league clubs have better tacticians, better managers.
Shh. You are meant to worship Arteta, for some reason, and give him blind faith even though people with eyes can see we are going nowhere with him.
What a terrible fan you are
I think he’s a solid footballing mind, but I think he gets a bit to carried away with his fancy little nuances like “false 9s” in major games, using makeshift fullbacks as fill-in midfielders or vice versa (White today, Xhaka in the past), Overloading with attackers against teams that sit really deep forgetting we need connections between the lines. Again, I think he WILL be a good coach, but we’re the team he cuts his teeth on.
I agree with your point about lack of midfield liknks, but he can’t exactly just conjure those players out of nothing. Xhaka and Partey fucked us for this one. Also, missing Tomiyasu and a striker that can actually finish. Hell, we’d have been better off running Nketiah into the ground and subbing ESR on. At least he can actually put the fucking ball in the frame. Strikers need to be cleared out and start over. Give Balogun Eddie’s understudy role and get a real finisher, hopefully with at least a little aerial ability – ours are all utterly useless in… Read more »
Play White in midfield (Tavares RB) or force ESR or Odegaard to play deeper. Odegaard was either told to play that far forward or he’s incapable of restraining himself from being that much of a forward/attacking midfielder. White just isn’t a fullback. We need to move on from that idea. The lone midfielder tactic (formation was almost 2-2-6 or 3-1-6) just doesn’t work – there is no connection through the middle and all we can do is attack through the flanks. “Meat and drink”.
he is and remains only a good no2
He’s a smart one this Ramsdale. He’s on the money, and it’s a poke at the boss without being overly critical. Nice that he feels free to speak his mind and, hopefully, go some way to provoking the sort of response the team needs.
There’s a lot of negativity on this website today, but I still think that top-four is possible. Why?
1. We have time now to get players fit and back from the ACN.
2. We’ll make a couple of signings that will include a much-needed striker.
3. Spurs and United are both s**t and will drop lots of points.
4. We only have PL games to play and can focus completely on them
There’s still a long way to go: if we focus then we can do it
A positive post from the fat… I dont believe it.
You drunk or on something?
No: just realistic.
The problem at the club has been obvious for some time: we have a decent first eleven but a weak squad overall. The results of this month just prove it.
Things can change quickly in football: a few weeks ago Arteta was God, now look at him.
The next 8 days are crucial: we need to sign a couple of quality players. It could make all the difference.
Spot on, but our pursuit of Vlahovic, like some deluded sex pest, is embarrassing. He doesn’t want to come, so take the fucking hint. All it has achieved is make Isak realise he’s not our first choice, so more likely to go to Barcelona in the summer now. And Arthur? Looks like Juventus are trying to shift their dead wood to get our number one CM target Bruno Guimaraes ( I can finally spell it). Why don’t we just use the cash that is available to get Bruno now and then go all out for Isak in the summer? I’ve… Read more »
Because we desperately need a striker now. We need goals from somewhere
He doesn’t want to come so then what, we over pay for Calvert-Lewin?
I agree we desperately need reinforcements, I just think we’ve wasted the whole window chasing a fantasy
Well, Arteta is not god and I personally don’t rate him, but I hope you are right and things turn around for us. We need some luck and we need some of the other results to go for us. We need a top-quality striker so we don’t depend on Nketia so much.
Absolutely spot on, Fatso.
Who are you and what have you done with the real Fatgooner?
You really need to wash your face immediately. You had a very bad nightmare. Please stop dreaming. Wake up. The best we can get in the top 6. But I predict 7th if we are damn lucky or back to our normal position…. 8th.
But didn’t Arteta ask them to do something else than cross balls in? Our only corner of note out of the countless was on the ground. Why were they all the same?
Sadly, every other person could see that except the man that really needed to see that, Arteta.
I am beginning to think those who say Arteta has reached his zenith with Arsenal may have a point.
I really want him to succeed, but his in-game management leaves much to be desired.
What did you expect? Give the man a Break. This is his first job as a premier league manager.
The first half was bad and his in game management made us create enough chances in the second half to win this easily on a normal day. So stop blaming him for strikers who don’t score sitters. We had the chances to win this. Enough of them. You don‘t get 50 of them against a team with 11 men behind the ball. The ones you got, you gotta put away.
Ramsdale doesn’t seem to agree with you. The crosses (meat and drink), were on offer for 90 minutes.
The sitter Laca missed was down to his penchant for drifting too far away for where a striker should be. The manager should have corrected that beforehand.
*away from
I am not sure what people think “in-game management” consists of in football. There are no timeouts in this sport to huddle with all your players, and only three substitutions are possible (assuming you actually have quality on your bench); it’s not the NFL. So, as you point out, when Arsenal play very differently after half-time, putting Burnley under incredible pressure, that *is* “in-game management.” Sometimes it looks like supporters just repeat the same criticisms–which might be valid other times–regardless of what they have actually seen. It’s like the commentators who talk about Arsenal’s weakness on corners–you know, the only… Read more »
Time-outs are not needed for ‘in-game management’. The most obvious form of in-game management is substitutions. It would be very hard to argue against saying that in general, Arteta hasn’t been very good in the timing or use of subs during his tenure.
Unfortunately until they appoint an experienced manager who has more tactical awareness and a great deal more motivational skills this great club is going know where fast.
Did you see our bench? Nobody on the bench could change a match or offer value when trying to score a goal. Partey and xhaka out. Pepe and auba out. No right back.
Slim pickings.
The crosses were silly and seemed to come the last 20 minutes of the match when the players ran out of ideas and steam.
Of course, we need a mid like Declan rice and a striker. Spend money on two world class players and we can compete.
Our own player was frustrated with Arteta’s tactics. What to say more? If they know crosses won’t work, why do we keep on crosses? Our striker Laca likes a midget inside the box among the skyscrapers Burnley defenders. What to expect??? Luck??? So, Arteta’s tactic is based on luck? No one is trying to run behind the defenders and the worst is where are the midfielders to provide or create that pass? Tierney looks tired and should bring Tavares earlier. For Lokonga, I can’t say no more. He is just not ready at all for PL. White as RB was… Read more »
Sorry… “Odegaard should go to the left and help Saka while ESR to the left.” Should be ” Odegaard should go to the right and help Saka while ESR more to the left to support Martinelli”.
Sorry… “Odegaard should go to the left and help Saka while ESR to the left.” Should be ” Odegaard should go to the right and help Saka while ESR more to the left to support Martinelli”.