Monday, April 29, 2024

Report: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham (inc goals)

Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, Vieira, Saka, Jesus, Nketiah

Subs: Ramsdale, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Jorginho, Elneny, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Havertz

Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the season but twice surrendered the lead to draw 2-2 with Tottenham on Sunday, despite goals from Bukayo Saka and Cristiano Romero (own goal).

Mikel Arteta made two changes to the side that beat PSV on Wednesday, with Eddie Nketiah replacing the injured Leandro Trossard and Fabio Vieira coming in for Kai Havertz.

After an even start, Arsenal came closest to taking the lead when Gabriel Jesus was left unmarked at the back post but his volley was well saved by Guglielmo Vicario.

Moments later, Eddie Nketiah found himself through on goal after Destiny Udogie’s careless backpass with Vicario called into action again to save his near post effort.

With the Gunners beginning to find their groove, the deadlock was finally broken after 26 minutes when Bukayo Saka – who continued to find joy against Udogie – cut inside and saw his curled strike ricochet off Cristian Romero and into the corner. 1-0.

Spurs were clearly flustered at this point and Jesus should have doubled the lead when he robbed James Maddison on the edge of his own box, only to blaze over with the goal in his sights.

But the visitors weathered the storm and began to find ways through Arsenal, with David Raya springing to his right in David Seaman-esque fashion to deny Brennan Johnson a shock equaliser.

With the hosts now looking nervy, the equaliser did arrive shortly after through Heung-min Son who found the bottom corner after slack defending from Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka who allowed Maddison to cross unchallenged. 1-1.

Arteta made two changes at half time – one enforced – with Jorginho replacing the injured Declan Rice and Kai Havertz coming on for Vieira.

The second half began at lighting speed and Arsenal were quickly ahead again, with Bukayo Saka scoring a penalty after Cristian Romero was penalised for handling Ben White’s close range, goalbound effort. 2-1.

However that lead lasted all of 60 seconds when Jorginho was caught sloppily in possession by Maddison who assisted Son for his second of the game – an easy finish with Arsenal all over the place defensively. 2-2.

Son was close to scoring his hat-trick after Spurs worked a smart move down the right hand side, but shot wide of the near post under close attention from Gabriel.

After that end-to-end period, neither side were able to create any clear opportunities although Vicario did make another smart save to deny Saka from range in injury time.

Emile Smith Rowe was brought on in the 96th minute but couldn’t affect the game in such little time, with Spurs taking the last chance of the game although Richarlison fired wide with Gabriel rushing out.

This fixture delivered once again with four goals in an end-to-end encounter and both sides remain unbeaten – although Arsenal will feel disappointed not to have held their lead for all three points.

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karl g

It was there for the taking. Too many missed chances, along with individual mistakes leaves us falling further behind. Neither of our top 2 strikers look clinical.

Riku

Whole team passed ball too slid second half. To give the forwards room for chances

Riku

Whole team passed ball too slow second half. To give forwards space for chances

karl g

We need to be able to edit a post!

truj

Or hit at least

Bleeding gums murphy

We lose much offensively when nketia plays. I know some on here want to believe he’s good enough but he clearly is not. Cannot believe Arteta persists with him. We would have been so much more of a threat with Jesus up top and smith Rowe wide. At least then we can pass intricately and move. Found performance very frustrating but think this one is on Arteta. If you disagree please be specific when telling me what use nketia was on the pitch today other than running about.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

I wouldn’t say Eddie is a dud, but it clearly wasn’t working for him. How he stayed on and not Jesus, is baffling

bob

Jesus coming back from recent knee surgery. I’m sure that played a part in managing his minutes unfortunately 🙁

wrightstuff8

100% it was managing jesus minutes otherwise of course Eddie should’ve come off – he was poor today, but he ain’t a dud. We take the L or what feels like the L and we move on. No time to bash important squad players

Dada

Why did he start? I asked before the game and got slaughtered. He’s good egg bu today we needed Jesus up there.

Walter White

Either GJ or Kai Havertz. Havertz would have been a really good target-man today.

Clay

Like Havertz has scored a goal this season.

Walter White

I said Target-man. his best games have been up top.

Alex

Jorginho was a bigger problem for the result

Sagebrush

Simple

Maniac

He just seems to lack that striker’s instinct at the moment. He’s not really making smart runs, positioning is off and overall seems off the pace compared to the rest of the team. When I’m watching him, he just isn’t where I want him to be. Whether that’s his own choice, or something Arteta has instilled in him, I don’t know, but I do know that it just wasn’t working today.

Vieiraera

He didn’t even run around. He sleep-walked around! HE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! We can’t win anything with that as the main striker

Tampa Jack

Or Nelson out wide w Jesus in middle.

portugunner

my wish too!

portugunner

how many shots eddy had on target?

GoonerJust

We were clumsy, in particular in the 2nd half. I hate to say this, they seems to have more spark than us. I think in the end, a draw is a fair result. And Chelsea defeat at home slightly brightens the day.

Crash Fistfight

To me, it looked like our players were nervous because of who the opponents were. I think there is something wrong with the messages given to the players ahead of some of these big games. It’s like trying to prepare the players for Anfield away by telling them how intimidating the atmosphere will be.

The team didn’t seem to ‘on-it’; it seemed to be trying to do everything too quickly for fear of getting it wrong.

wrightstuff8

I think having a near perfect performance in Europe 3/4 days ago meant today was always going to be anti climax. We need to learn how to manage that and I have no doubt we will. COYG

The Far Post

Agree that we were clumsy. At some point after their 2nd equalizer our players passed the ball around really timidly, without much zip, selling the ball short almost. Luckily there was no further disaster. Their left wing was also able to slip the ball into the path of their runners so easily, until they sub off Son.A very nerve-wracking and frustrating match.

Dada

Every poor possible decision MA coukd have taken he did and why because he’s too smart for himself..why start wity Eddie when you you have Reiss or Smith on the wing.

Raya was horrendous. Total fault for first goal. Why was Saka not on Oduigi with his Yello card. A man who drinks too muhc of fuckin cool aid.

All. Spurs goals were coachable Mistakes.

Carole

Hopefully, we will see Ramsdale back in goal next time out.

Dada

Hopefully the new toy syndrome has worn off

Big L HoP

Ngl I found this a really frustrating game from a shape point if view. But it’s hard to criticise when we lost Trossard, rice and Jesus isn’t fully fit yet (?). But yeah a horrible way to concede the second goal and it felt like we had zero control / fluidity where it mattered. I love Eddie but he showed his limitations this game, particularly some of his movement was poor and his touch was not up to scratch today. Got to keep our heads up but Arteta has serious work to do. If Saka is out for a bit… Read more »

Maniac

Just cannot lose the ball as Jorginho did. What he was thinking, I will never know. Absolutely awful decision when he had passes on. Difference was the composure of Maddison and Son vs that of Jesus when he slashed at the ball.

Really hope the Rice injury isn’t too serious, because we are starting to look very light in that CDM role. We also can’t really afford to play two attacking midfielders in front of just Jorginho.

truj

I can loose a ball in million way and anytime.

Blueberry

And still find a way to score

portugunner

as the last man? no, you can‘t…

Trossard, hussard pas troussard

We need to win against City otherwise seven points under them knowing how we finish our seasons….

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Stop thinking too far ahead. We still have a game to play, before City

Maniac

Also just want to call out that Sp*rs actually had a lot of cards that game, but we never really challenged them and piled on the pressure on those players. Saka had Udogie on toast for about 30 minutes, and then we just let off. Same for both of their holding midfielders. We should have pushed them hard knowing they can’t afford to make tackles, rather than taking our foot off the gas and not exploiting that weakness.

Blueberry

Even our bench players like ESR are more clinical

Funsho Patrick

Yep…we took them for granted! Started losing all the second balls in midfield..a match where TP and Rice should have been double pivot..Bissouma and Sarr are statistically similar to rice..it wasn’t exactly a match for Fabio…Eddie should have been off for Smith Rowe or Nelson much earlier.. doesn’t do enough off the ball…Like Mikel always says,the table doesn’t lie…the squad has enough but the tweaking and absence of focus has cost us 4points…

Bleeding gums murphy

He doesn’t enough on the ball either.

Jack

How on earth did Eddie last 90 mins but Jesus got subbed?!

karl g

Eddie had a bit more running, but neither had their shooting boots on. Jesus missed sitter after his own brilliant turnover.

GoonerJust

I think arteta wants to rest jesus, save his fitness for the next match. That’s the only reason I can think of.

Rick_Sanchez

Fuck the next game, it’s the NLD!

portugunner

giving away the win?

Samrat

Probably the fact jesus is still recovering from the injury and he played midweek

MickeyG

Eddie is not at the level we need, was annoyed with Arteta for not hooking him.

loose_cannon

Can only imagine it’s a fitness thing?

Danny

Fair enough, but spend money on an alternative forward rather than a new goalkeeper that we didn’t need.

loose_cannon

I don’t think the loan fee we spent on Raya would go very far in the CF department!

Collibosher

Jesus is coming back from injury, maybe he can’t yet do 90+10 minutes?

Domi

Still don’t understand giving 4 mins to ESR. Wasting such talent, especially when Saka was obviously exhausted and injured.

Fireman Sam

Agree. ESR looked very good when he came on, not that it was for long. At times like this when Martinelli and Trossard are out, we need the attacking skill of ESR rather than Eddie.

Ebo

This has been a miserable place whenever we’ve lost or drawn lately. Let’s not be miserable.

Cyprus The Immortal Gooner

The result is not bad. It’s the way it came…

Ebo

*Gooners downvoting*: “who are you to come here and try to take our right to be miserable!” lol

Ballz

Who could have seen this game going the way it is? We are so much better than the scum, but because of Arteta’s need to appear so much smarter than everyone else by not doing the straightforward thing, he complicated things by changing just for the sake of change. What happened to the way we played last season? Why does he seem so intent on killing any kind of dynamic play in favor of “control”. Why the obsession with “control”? Control what? What’s the point of control? Every game this season bar PSV has been hard fought to the end,… Read more »

Rick_Sanchez

They were better! I’m ashamed mate!

Mr Dob Bobalina

Weird comment when the main issue was too much chaos. Partly injuries, partly the derby factor.

karl g

You’re right. It wasn’t style of play that caught us last season, it was lack of squad depth when injuries came.

Ebo

It was both. Saliba’s absence hurt but it was far from the only issue, teams figured us out towards the end and we didn’t have a plan B. And no, a plan B isn’t just a tall striker you can punt the ball to.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Arteta’s selection and in game decisions were questionable, but stiil, If Jesus scores that to make it 2-0, it’s a different story.
They were the better team over 90 mins, especially without Rice on the pitch. We’ll take that and move on to next weekend

Wengerball

They were not the better team guys lol. They had good periods but overall I’d say we had a slight advantage in attacking their goal.

Chinese Gooner

Both team were quite shit and will not win anything this season. I just hope spurs don’t finish above us.

Riku

We passed ball too slow, first rule of Wenger ball

Fireman Sam

There was some Emery-ball creeping back in today.

Frustrating, especially at the end when they were on the ropes and we could barely get a ball into their box to actually have a chance of a shot on goal. Just crap slow sideways passes.

With a more switched-on CF and a bit more intent we could’ve got the 3rd goal.

Riku

Why does jesus pass back to jorginho? Turn and across to the left side

Cygan’sbaldspot

Worst performance in a long long time. Very disappointed in the players tbh.

ObiKing

Nkethia is not the answer. Flog him to Palace. We desperately need an upgrade.

karl g

If Ramsdale is dispensable, why not.

Bleeding gums murphy

Flog him to palace and get Toney, that would be a massive upgrade

CTGunner

I wouldn’t bet on it.

Danny

He would!

Wengerball

Team looked EXHAUSTED by the 75th minute. We worked really hard but we weren’t clinical. Nketiah had a chance to play Viera for a tap-in and Jesus did great to steal the ball from Madison but shot over. In tight games, against good teams, one or two chances are what make the difference.

Bleeding gums murphy

Nketia also had great chance when we broke and had 4 against 3 and he completely fucked it and they ended up equalising.

portugunner

we scored 2! that would have been enough if we don‘t concede…

Bleeding gums murphy

If me Aunty had bollox she would be me uncle

Flash

I think so too, that physicality played a crucial role today.
An injured Partey, Martinelli, Rice, Timber, (not to mention the CL game in midweek) takes its toll.
I hope Arteta will rotate heavily on wednesday.

Wengerball

Yea Odegaard and Saka gassed out pretty early.

Mexida

Some of our players don’t even understand this was a derby playing and smiling with the enemy

Blueberry

Especially when that enemy scored 2 and you can’t score to save your life.

Rick_Sanchez

You know what. I take the point because we were fucking shite. What is Mikel thinking? Why are we this nervous?

BLUEBERRY

Probably fraked up his pre match speech. We should have been riding thanks to our PSV boost

Cyprus The Immortal Gooner

This felt like a heavy loss…

Fatgooner

Rubbish performance- but we could have still won.

Until Arteta manages to teach his team how to defend properly we’ve got no chance of winning the league.

Eddie and Havertz will never make it the club.

We’re playing for top four already. Title gone.

Reality check

Havertz was probably the brightest when he came on.

Fatgooner

That’s why he blasted that great chance five yards over the bar.

Maniac

As did the rest of the team bar Saka today. Havertz was not the problem, far from it.

Eric Blair

He might not have the problem today but he’s never the solution, is he?

BLUEBERRY

Blsting half volley is probably easier than a grounded shot

ObiKing

Title is no where near gone.

BLUEBERRY

It’s nowhere near at all

Simon

To be honest the title was never going to be in reach of any team except City. It’s a soul destroying few years I’m afraid to say where the best of the rest get bored of not winning so elite players move on. I hope I’m wrong and City start to drop points but it’s really not enjoyable to watch what’s happening with money and football at the moment. And yes I know we spent a fortune but there is no other option to even be able to get into the top four. With Newcastle and Chelsea’s money it will… Read more »

Jeremy

Also, nobody cares if city win. Other than their 10 fans in Manchester. Nobody likes them and nobody really hates them (like utd or liverpool of yesteryear). There is no sense of rivalry or any kind of passion with city. They just leave everyone feeling cold and emotionless. Imagine being so successful and clinical and nobody cares.

Maniac

I do agree with you, but I just want to point out that Liverpool also spent a huge amount of money: most expensive CB and GK in the world at the time for sure. Leicester would have been a much better example.

akasuna00

Arsenal got their game plan figured out by Spurs. The visitors got the best result for this one.

Jeremy

We were quite shit today. Spurs are better but there for the taking. Honestly I thought they were marginally the better team considering the circumstances. Too may injuries, too ponderous on the ball and defence is too porous for a serious title challenge. Nobody else is dropping points around us and I genuinely think we shouldn’t take top 4 for granted.

Glenn Helder's Perm

What a load of old toot. Not take fourth for granted? Are we watching the same team? On our day we’re unplayable, but that day was not today. With that intensity of press in the first half we were knackered by the 35th minute, coincidentally around when they scored. I think fitness is playing a part at the moment. A player like Son only needs half a look and he’ll bite you (not in the Suarez sense). We let them back in for periods and we looked much weaker without Rice. Eddie should have been at the back post for… Read more »

Madness

Second half was a disaster and can someone please tell me why we are managing Jesus finess but not Sakas?

Havertz, Jorginho and Eddie are not at the level required in a top game but we have a lot of injuries so I guess that’s where we are.

Once again we are creating clear cut chanses för the opposition. That has to fucking stop now.

Truther

As if we did not already know, Rice is a vital component of the team and Nketiah is not nearly good enough for a title challenge. Personally, I’d have liked to see Jesus through the middle and Smith Rowe on the (left) wing. (Raya’s feted ball playing skills were not evident today, though props for the first-half save.)

Crash Fistfight

Raya and Ramsdale seem to essentially be the same player, as far as I can tell.

Ebo

We don’t seem to have the magic of last season just yet, partly because injuries keep interrupting the flow we’re building each time. Really missed Martinelli (and Tross) from the start, then sorely missed Rice and Vieira in the second half. This wasn’t an impressive display but assuming some of these will come back better days are coming…

lovely_arse

We. Need. A. Clinical. Striker.

Ebo

Jesus can become more clinical. That miss was shocking but give him another game or two to come back from injury and get in proper flow, reckon he can hit 22-25 this season

Mootilated

look – he is good. but City sold him for a reason. if they thought he could bag 20-25 goals a season, they would’ve kept him.

Ebo

no they wouldnt have, because they have two other strikers who can do even more than that and are younger, and they had to sell him to recoup some money for a player who wasn’t going to play

Crash Fistfight

He has shown no evidence of that in all the time he has played in the PL. His shot conversion rate is poor. He isn’t in the team to be clinical, though. I agree that we need a more clinical striker, but will that take away from the team play in general? I don’t think we look better when Jesus plays instead of Nketiah because Jesus is more clinical (in fact, I think it might be the other way round) but because of everything else he does. If there was someone clinical who could do a half-decent impression of the… Read more »

Chinese Gooner

It’s okay to let spurs have possession. Everyone knows they only score from counter-attacks. But that seriously can’t be our only game plan… We’re just running around like headless chickens.
This team is far from ready to play a game of this caliber without Partey.

Sheldon

Our first taste of champions league fatigue.

JPG

This here ^ We looked “nervous” but what it really was that shite was a half step faster than us. Coupled with the injury load right now it was glaringly obvious that many weren’t able to snap into passes and challenges properly. Need to raise the levels again, as some say.

Kanishk Upreti

If I am ESR, seeing Martinelli and Trossard out injured, and Eddie playing the way he did today, if all I can get is 3 mins of game time cus Saka couldn’t run anymore, I’d say fuck the process and I’d hand in a transfer request.

Shocking how Eddie has lasted the whole game with all this competition for places talk going on.

Ebo

Thank god you’re not ESR

djourou's nutmeg

unless…

Kanishk Upreti

If Ramsdale can be dropped after being voted into the PL team of the season last year, then Eddie does not deserve to start another big game unless Jesus and Havertz (would make a much better option at CF as a plan B) are both out injured. He played 100 minutes and provided zero attacking threat, and made a shocking tackle that could easily have seen him getting a red card.

Pls don’t think I want ESR to leave, I love the guy to bits 🥺

BLUEBERRY

If this bs continues ESR should leave for sake of his career. He’s getting wasted. Was times better with ball than Nketiah or Havertz

Mexida

Eddie begging to be sub off since 20mins in the first half but some how Arteta sub off Jesus and rice..

BLUEBERRY

I wonder why he’s being persisted with so much. He’s not consistent and can’t run with ball at all.

Ballz

And regarding Raya – this is one of the most foolish things I’ve ever seen a team do. You have a goalkeeper who was literally just voted by his peers and coaches as the best in the country, after a season in which you played some of the best football on the continent, only missing out on the league due to injury/fatigue, but then decide to bring in Raya because of “distribution”. Not a single human being in existence even considered Ramsdale as being in need of a replacement. Now every single mistake Raya makes will be under the microscope.… Read more »

CTGunner

Yawn… This “outrage” is getting stale. Competition at every position… Iron sharpens iron.

Ballz

I just got a girlfriend to help “sharpen” my wife. If she asks for a divorce, it’s a sign that she’s weak and doesn’t have the right mindset to be my wife.

Ridiculous comparison I know, but I’m making point is that at some point, a player is good enough. Ramsdale was more than good enough. Focus your energy on improving other aspects of our play rather than constantly bringing in other players for “competition”.

BillyKrystal

I’ve been on the fence about the goalies. Wait and see. But I honestly see zero upgrade with Raya. Credit to him for the great save. Aside from that I see nothing he does better than Ramsdale. I’m convinced it’s cause Ramsdale is a bit gangly so FEELS less composed, but that’s all it is, a feeling. What’s the difference, they both boot it long all the time, except Rambo can land it at least in the opposition half.

Edzo

Arsenal need to hire the Brighton manager. We need two top managers at the club.

Norwegian Wood

This is the first time in my life that I’m surprised people are uncomfortable with a player being replaced by another player might just be better.

After I saw Raya’s stats for last season, and when Ramsdale was put under a microscope, a lot of things became clear to me that we might just need an upgrade in the area. Raya is a better goalkeeper right now and was not responsible for both goals scored today. If Ramsdale shows in training that he is better, he’ll be brought back in.

Crash Fistfight

Bit extreme to say Ramsdale is the best GK in the country, but I see what you’re saying. Not sure Raya’s distribution was particularly impressive today. I think you can throw some shade his way for the 1st goal, as well (although a lot of my ire was directed at Rice at the time – perhaps he was already injured, because his defending on that was non-existent).

Rnab08

Saka got turned far too easily by Maddison as well. Lunged in to try and nick it rather than staying goalside.

Crash Fistfight

True.

Rnab08

Not sure how this game applies to that discussion? Raya couldn’t do anything about either goal, made a superb save, and I thought his calmness in possession was vital.

IndoGooners

if we try to become “ruthless” like Arteta said, their 1st goal started because of Raya failed to catch the long ball 1st cleanly

Rnab08

A lot still had to happen for that to turn into a goal, so I wouldn’t say he threw it in his own net although he could’ve done better there for sure. More broadly I imagine he’s being picked bc he always looks to keep possession first and will only launch it as a last resort. I do think Ramsdale has a tendency to go long late in the game if it’s finely balanced, which can invite more pressure. Raya seems much more comfortable in possession in those moments. All in all, not really a position I felt needed upgrading… Read more »

djourou's nutmeg

it looked like an arsenal match from 2017. at least we’re still unbeaten, but man… im tired of unlearned lessons. we can’t keep giving away leads this easily. hope partey gets better soon.

John

a point is fair as we simply weren’t good enough for the win. the team just didn’t click at all. and our 2 goals were a bit fortunate as well, very well taken penalty though. And why give 3 mins to ESR, 60 seconds towards the end would have been enough. Give attacking players 15 mins atleast. City are going to tear us apart, Rodri or not!!

Emi Rates

A disappointing result.

CTGunner

Always going to be tough with no real balance out left. Odegaard – Saka was our only mechanism. Became slow and predictable. As long as we’ve no trossard/martinelli, we’ll struggle for pace and balance as proven today.

Eric Blair

OK, let’s get this out of the way: – For better or worse, Arteta has, knowingly or not, taken us into a period of restructuring both in personnel and tactics. – Thus, we can forget about winning the league this season. – Changes behind the scenes seem to have affected us, not least the club doctor leaving. – We’re still light in the striker department. – I was a reluctant backer of the Havertz deal but I’m beginning to have my doubts. – There is such a focus on backroom stuff like getting a dog and other social media stuff.… Read more »

CTGunner

So… Perfection is the expectation? In the market? On the pitch? In the tactics? Good luck with that… Btw, pep ain’t perfect.

Ebo

this is way too early to say anything about the title… City have won everything last season and they’ve got momentum and are feeling great right now but the season’s just started, let’s see them digging deep to find that motivation when it gets cold and rainy. Are they favourites? Sure, but it’s definitely not a done deal yet. We’re still in the race and so are Liverpool. And Tottenham… are a club in North London. Sort of.

Rick_Sanchez

Was Rice injured or did Mikel fuck it up? Or… It’s not Mikels fault that Jorghi had a brain fart?

Norwegian Wood

He’s injured.

Mexida

The Team lacking comon sense .

Earlcourt

Today Eddie was disappointing.
From the shoulder slump to lack of creative thinking at the angle(should have blasted the roof of the net)
Striker don’t only exist for tap ins
They knuckle down..rough up defenders and cause nuisance.
Jesus would have been better with Reiss holding the flank.

BLUEBERRY

Even ESR would have been a better Striker.

Alex

Poor. Dropped those points all by ourselves.

Stonks

Title contenders? My ass…

Haybe

Players looked tired in the second half but after midweek game but that can’t be an excuse as we took the lead twice and then twice allowing them back in. Saka struggled against their left back who I thought had a brilliant game despite being booked. Ødegaard too was nowhere near his best after collecting an early needless yellow card, and Jesus and Nketiah should have done better with those two clear chances — Son would have scored both. After the home game against Fulham and again today, and almost 1cm away from losing to Man United at home, Arteta’s… Read more »

Norwegian Wood

Poor substitution management.

Ahh. The expert who is entirely in the know of the ins and outs of Arsenal players and their conditions.

Give it a break.

Haybe

How many games in a row did Saka start, finishing 99.9% of the time? What about overplaying Martinelli when there’s Trossard? Or sticking Partey to an unfamiliar position until he got injured, freezing Gabriel in the process only to haul him back into the starting lineup after Partey done his legs?

Freezing ESR forever even when we are winning games comfortably.

Waiting until the last 2 minutes to make substitutions.

And so on…

Ealing

This reply makes more sense than your opening comment

BLUEBERRY

I was fuming when Arteta was barking instrucions to ESR for last 2 minutes.

Mexida

We can’t be talking about tiredness when we did a whole lot to get back to the UCL, if we can’t win the league l, play in the UCL all through to the final, why then do we consider our team as a big team?

loose_cannon

Lost control in that second half without Rice and Vieira but could/should have won it in the last 20 minutes or so. Can only imagine Jesus is still struggling for full match fitness because otherwise, taking him off instead of Nketiah is baffling. A good point at the end of the day, just hope the injuries aren’t too bad.

IndoGooners

We are not at the same level as last season yet, and for their 1st goal, i think there is part of Raya’s mistake, although yes he made an unbelievable save before the goal, and please do not buy any player from chelshit anymore

Austin Bud

Saliba has everything

RockyRog58

When we’re on top we have to kill teams again and again and again ! We need a prime goalscorer ! Our two worked hard but I can run about a bit even at 61 FFS I expect more ! Tactics ? Jesus wasted Raya brilliant save butt flapped for their first and kicked everything out of play ! ESR wasted talent sat watching Reiss again was good We missed Tross & Martinelli badly but please we need a presence up front that scores ! Defensively rubbish at home again today (lax is the word) But & it’s a big… Read more »

Haybe

Strange we sold Balogun and kept Nketiah despite needing a striker in the summer knowing Jesus isn’t prolific and Nketiah is inconsistent.

Also it seems Arteta has taken the spark out of Saka

Mootilated

We need to beat City or else our chances to lift the title are slim and it’s only 6 games in.

We need a CF who can finish off games. We don’t score enough goals and our strikers are wasteful.

SLC Gooner

That was not great from anyone in attack. If Saka, Martinelli and Trossard all end up out for a spell, we’re in trouble. No idea why ESR didn’t immediately come in for Saka. Nelson and ESR need to start mid-week to get them minutes.
And Havertz again added very little. At this point, we’d have been better keeping Xhaka.
Not sure what to think about the City match. With Rodri and Debruyne out, I’d have said it’s a great opportunity. But now looks like we may be missing even more key players.

BLUEBERRY

Foden has replaced KBD well and Pep will just play Stones in CDM

Walleye

I enjoyed the game because it was competitive. Arsenal missed great opportunities, pressed hard, worked and overall still seem to finding there way.

spurs worked defended and countered well. I have to admit Kane being in Germany made it more watchable.

still the game was decided by Jorginho getting caught on the ball

Vieiraera

What’s most shocking today for me was that Sp*rs looked fresher than us. We were 2nd best on most 50-50s. Easy to blame it on the mid week UCL game. But I think it’s deeper than that. I can only think of 3-4 individuals who had a good game – Saliba, Gabby, Saka and Zinky perhaps. Nketiah was atrocious, very lazy; killed our press and failed to square an obvious ball for Fabio. I don’t see how that guy starts a game for arsenal. Jesus is obviously not 100% fit. That miss will haunt him for the rest of his… Read more »

DistrictGoon

Not really shocking when we played a midweek European match and Spurs rested is it?

BLUEBERRY

It won’t haunt him. He did something similar against Everton last year as well. He was happily laughing and Chatting with Son, the topscorer of the match, after the same miss

Qwaliteee

We played in midweek – they didn’t.

Not mKing an excuse, just stating a fact. Recovery times at this level of athleticism makes all the difference.

Edzo

Nketiah was lucky not to get a red. Otherwise, he was awful. He’s just not good enough. We spent 200 million and we are weaker in midfield. Partey is always injured. Jorginio is past his sell by date. Artetas lineups are always changing. We spent 60 million on a player who isn’t good enough to start. We are desperate for a striker.
If Rice is injured, we are in serious trouble. We have no cover for him. Probably good enough to finish top 4 but nothing more.

Badaab

looks like i didn’t miss much by not being able to watch the second half. not going to do the jorginho ‘told you so’ but

Tobi6footplus

Immediately after the final whistle, the first thing I did was Google Ivan Toni 😂

Vonnie

He’s a horrible person, there must be better players who aren’t gobshites and gambling addicts.

Norwegian Wood

Gambling makes a person horrible?

Qwaliteee

You won’t find a nicer more approachable guy than Paul Merson. As down to earth as they come.

He is also a self- confessed gambling addict.

Gambling addiction is an illness and not a moral compass indicator of someone’s personality, character or intelligence.

Collibosher

Well you wouldn’t have found much, his surname is Toney.

Qwaliteee

Pains me to say it, but Eddie really isn’t capitalising on his opportunities. He was largely absent again in yesterday’s game and really needs to start asserting himself more and tucking his chances away.

It’s still relatively early in the campaign, but this season really is make or break for Eddie.

And that’s from someone who has always backed him 100% to the hilt. He needs goals and lots of them.

Mr.Wick

Midweek match, and our players seem exhausted, like fatigue level over 200%! We’ve got a long road ahead to catch up to Man City. 😅 Arteta’s starting lineup today? Way off. Frustrated by our inability to finish games. Nketiah and Jesus not delivering. Too many underperformers out there. 😤

Naijaboy007

I think Jesus missing that easy chance cost us the game. I get anyone could miss it but it seemed so easy to score. Happens though I guess- same with the Jorginho mistake. We looked very bad in the second half which makes me wonder what we would do if Rice and some of our key players get injured. I guess every team will feel it though . I’d say spurs played better (or controlled the game better ). We didn’t look like we would score in the 2nd half (penalty was a God). Not the end of the world.… Read more »

Tobi6footplus

This was the first time I looked at the the team sheet and felt a lump in my throat when I saw the line up. Trossard and Martinelli were big misses. No fluidity from the get go and at half time I had made peace with a draw.

CTGunner

We play closer to a false 9… Without balance across the front – Jesus isn’t a left sided player – we will struggle. Both martinelli and trossard missing through injury was everything today. With them in the side we are miles better than the scum.

mikey

Eddie is basically a BTEC version of welbeck with no hold up play

Naijaboy007

One more thing. Harvertz is completely short off confidence. He knows he isn’t playing well. I know it’s been said over and over again but I can’t believe we payed 65m for him. A player i suspect Chelsea didn’t want. Then again , if we reach the UCL finals , I would hope he scores to justify the price. We should have replaced Xhaka with Kudus. But Harvertz is who we have and I really hope he finds some form .

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