Arsenal have a mountain to climb to reach the Carabao Cup final after a 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle.
Alexander Isak put the visitors ahead in the first half, before his shot led to Anthony Gordon doubling the lead early in the second. Mikel Arteta’s side had plenty of the ball and plenty of chances, but no cutting edge on the night.
It makes the return leg in early February extremely challenging.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Arsenal 0-2 Newcastle match report and see the goals here
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MLS………6 is very harsh
He’s turning into a beast game by game …. Thought he was excellent.
It’s our attack without Saka that’s the oroblem
That’s why it’s a good thing we brought in Sterling for cover! But instead, the cover is like one of those old bedsheets you keep around for some reason despite it being almost translucent from wear.
he only just came back from injury, give him a break. Pretty sure he’ll feature vs. Man U this weekend.
Oh god help us!
What makes you so sure about that? You know it’s only been 5 months on the bench…
If he’s fit enough for the bench he’s fit enough to be given ten minutes to get us a foothold in the game.
He’s an international striker and we needed goals – one goal would have given us some hope – but instead the manager brought on a defender. WTF?
One of the few things to enjoy about this game was how MLS. more than once, smuggled the ball out of a dangerous position. Heart-in-mouth moments, but no doubting his skill. When Zinchenko came on, I’d like to have seen MØ8 taken off (he was having a stinker) and MLS tried in midfield.
Yep 💯
This season is just a narrative writers dream. We spend 80 mio on two players that add nothing and don’t spend that money on Isak. Then by January our two best new players are actually the two 17 year olds that could be keeping the 2 new signings out of the team (if they were both fit and we actually played more than 4 offensive players ) and Isak comes to bury our best chance or a trophy while the players he should have replaced couldn’t hit a barn door with a beach ball.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest… Read more »
He was rubbish
Harsh! He did not offer anything offensively and a few times did not release the ball quickly enough where we could have created dangerous chances. Let’s not be deluded: great potential but also huge limitation at the moment.
People want to know why we look so turgid going forward then praise a player that’s slow and ponderous at progressing the ball, he’s not particularly good defensively either
Are you talking about Myles Lewis Skelly? You madman. Wash your mouth out with soap 😂
Better to direct your vitriol at the increasingly dopey Saliba – asleep for the defensive header to hand them their goal… wildly inaccurate for the offensive header (unopposed!) that may have gotten us back into the game.
And his tendency to pass 9 out of 10 balls backwards is the real reason we look so turgid.
It was MLS who lost their player for the first goal!!
I was so impressed with his poise and ability to skip past folks. Keep playing him!
Our dependency to Saka is crystal clear. Dear oh dear….
Exactly right. We maybe thought we were better than we were because of him.
Oh dear, we struggle to score even when he’s on the pitch
We already lost to Newcastle this season, in the exact same manner, with Saka in the team.
Not just Saka though. When Martin was out the difference was just as notable. It’s depth in key attacking positions.
Arguably, Martin is still out…
XG 3. Actual 0. Sums it up.
Yes, we missed some good chances to score but missing chances doesn’t mean you’re unlucky, it just means you’re incompetent.
Can we take them to Dubai for like an hour or something before we play United?
Two trophies gone and let’s be honest it would take a miracle to do anything in CL, and making to an FA Cup final feels like a pipe dream right now:
agree
That’s the spirit
I’m as gutted as anyone, but it’s not over. Not holding my breath though. It would be a miracle, but I feel like we’re overdue one. We usually get at least one miracle a season…
Too soon to give up. Arsenal just need to summon the spirit of 87 when they effectively came from 2-0 down against Spurs in the second leg of the semi-final, and eventually won the final. Liverpool are also faltering a bit in the League so all still to play for.
Meh
Ya all fair blogs bar Leo thought he was worse than Martin . I thought M08 was coming into it before their goal but wasn’t his fault he was marking Isak.
Gabi jesus to start the weekend and MM23 instead of Ode let ode rest up and be ready for Premier league
Well Leo on the right never worked for me. I still have nightmares of Tedesco playing him there against Slovakia and Ukraine at the Euro
Leo isn’t working anywhere at the moment, he demands to play and then stinks the place out. I wouldn’t be sad to see him gone in the summer.
I agree he has been woeful for some time now but his first time pass to Martinelli in the 1st half which resulted in the latter striking the post shows the quality that is there (but otherwise seems to be using some sort of Star Trek cloaking device….)
Agree about resting him but I’d start Thomas, Jorgi and Kai (in Martin’s [position) in midfield this weekend, that’s the most creativity we can have in a midfield without Odegaard, and Kai is fairly rested having been ill, needs the game time.
Then Jesus, Sterling and Tross up top, rest Martinelli too for Sp*rs, bring both him and Ode off the bench if need be.
Should have kept ESR, it was ode who pushed him out, he would have been perfect cover.. as he is proving at at Fulham!
“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is”.
Johan Cruyff
Today, Arsenal really showed how hard it is
Simple is that you can’t afford those two goals, pokr defending. If you can’t score than don’t concede, 0:0 wouldnt have been bad
Literally Saka FC.
Sad times indeed.
We already lost to Newcastle this season, in the exact same manner, with Saka in the team.
If only we had Saka’s creativity against Everton too! And Inter. And Atalanta.
Oh he played all those games and we still didn’t score, it’s almost as if it’s not that simple
Almost as if it’s not about personnel but coaching
I don’t care what the numbers say, our approach to games sucks. We can’t even cry ‘low block’ today – because Newcastle came out at us plenty to go 2-0 up and our trademark slow build up / spam crosses routine barely laid a glove on them.
We need some top tier new energy in this squad ASAP or I suspect we’ll start to see our few world class players leave. Sigh.
If we are lucky this Jan we can buy a LB and DM 🙂
Add to that a goalkeeper
And probably Daniel Sturridge on a 6 month deal
Arteta’s future as manager of Arsenal needs to be questioned, now.
Nonsense. He took us from 8th in the league to 2 second-place finishes. Now we are 2nd again, and still playing in all 4 competitions, despite having had an exceptionally unlucky season.
I’m not saying Arteta’s perfect, he’s obviously still a young manager making mistakes, but getting rid of him now would be unbelievably stupid.
1 loss in 14 games and now they want to cut everybody’s head.
Good thing these people are so-called supporters and nothing more.
It’s when these losses happen mate. Who cares if we beat Everton or West Ham 20 times in a row, what matters is when a game really means something we seem to fall short. This is a cup semifinal, a chance to win something and we phone it in. Statistics don’t account for context, and context matters!
Beating Everton? When? That would have been nice. Lol
Yes, the context that half the team is injured, the other half I’ll and the whole team are knackered.
This is Arteta’s 6th season charge and yes, 8th, 8th, 5th, 2nd and 2nd (plus an FA Cup) shows incremental improvement but it’s now unequivocally his chosen squad after having spent $450M but we are no nearer to landing major silverware. The signings of Sterling,Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Nuno Tavares and Lokonga were all ultimately failures while the jury is still out on the questionable merits of both Merino and Havertz.
How many wins in 14?
Hear hear.
He’s been brilliant so far. But he’s had a few windows to move beyond what made him transform the team when he came in – defense and structure. He hasn’t been very good at that. The discussion needs to be had as to whether or not he has reached his limit and a new coach would better suited to build on what’s there for reach higher levels. If things don’t change quickly, the stars will start leaving, because if things don’t change quickly there won’t be the signs that this team can go much further. Arsenal are a lesser team… Read more »
I agree with that assessment. It’s not Arteta out time by any means but at some stage in the near future, he is going need to start producing the goods so to speak, either by playing a more atractive football or by getting some meaningful silverware, ideally both.
Ironic that the only trophy won under his leadership was with a centre forward who just scored goals ! Aubameyang won us that cup not Arteta & the boss’s “my way or the highway” approach is not going to win us anything He’s too stubborn to be a GREAT MANAGER Good yes ! Sometimes brilliant ? But not a trophy/league winner imho !!! Loved watching MLS tonight though !
Only trophy he won was with Emery’s team
Lucky for us Shearer wasn’t playing… nor the bloody Joey Barton 🤔
Shearer only plays if Merino is on the pitch. Obsessed.
Thanks, now you reminded me that this fucking guy ever existed. Yuck
Which one? The greatest English striker to have played football? Or the hilarious X troll?
Barton. He was not hilarious, he was common thug.
We learnt absolutely nothing from the weekend. Blind back heels in the box getting us nowhere. Everyone we created space Infront of us we turned back inside! Disappointing
For a man who had no hesitation when the opportunity came up to take Sterling on loan he seems to have a lot of hesitation when it comes to playing him. Will go down as the strangest deal of the season.
It’s shambolic. Especially when you assess Trossard’s performances and even Martinelli’s at times. We haven’t even tried Sterling.
Sterling definitely isn’t the answer to our problems.
He hasn’t been picked regularly by any manager for a couple seasons now.
Arteta likely brought him in from his experience working with him at city, which obviously looks like an oversight. He’s clearly not that player anymore.
Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus were sold to Arsenal by City for a reason. Ditto Sterling by Chelsea.
Very suspicious. Sang his praises upon arrival proceeds to bench him for 5 months…
I have been always a fan of Martinelli. Even more than Saka when they both started a few years ago.
But look at this game. He was not quick to send the ball to Trossard in that chance in first half, and missed a potential assist. He hit the post, missing a goal. This level is not enough to win the league nor winning big games. Those who win have other players who hardly miss such big chances, while ours hardly converts them.
Martinelli when he broke through was such an exiting player. Remember Klopp absolutely fawning over him? The talent is definitely there. Is there a case of over coaching and subduing his natural instincts? A bit of Jack Grealish-itis?
So well said. In his breakout season, he played more centrally and cracked quite a few SOG, and it rained goals. So we moved him to an always isolated position hugging the touch line? I’m an Arteta believer, but the attack needs work.
All of our attackers play in isolated positions, thats why our top scorer has 7 goals
I’m in the same boat. I think he’s our attacking Ramsdale….we kind of love him but are coming to accept that he lacks top quality. Sad
Was it just me that thought he was massively overrated? To be fair, I didn’t think that so much in his first season.
This team is stale. We are in dire need of quality additions this January to breathe some life into our attack.
Meanwhile at this rate, I don’t see us beating United on Saturday.
I can predict with certainty that we won’t beat Man U on Saturday.
Teeth grinding performance. How Partey didn’t get yoinked at half is a mystery to me. Need some reinforcements in January. Sorry to see Havertz and Ode not yet recovered from whatever is plaguing them.
At least Partey plays the ball forwards, 8 times out of 10. Saliba is the opposite!
Partey is poor and has made us worse since he came back into the side at the end of last season
We’re not winning anything under this tactically limited coach. Let’s cross the ball into no one. Let’s pass the ball side ways and in a horseshoe. Let’s gets millions of corners, make Jover stand up for the cameras for the commentators to say the same shit every time and then maybe score. We’re boring…. Just boring.
There are absolutely no positives from this game.
This game showed how desperately we need some new players.
Why didn’t Sterling or even Tierney come on, no point putting zinchenko on in an already congested middle. Tierney’s overlaps would’ve freed up Martinelli or taken Newcastle players away from the middle.
Sometimes I just don’t understand what Arteta sees.. I know he’s the coach with the badges, but surely others can identify what we glaringly see
The use of Sterling is truly baffling, and I don’t mean just this game – I mean in general. Why sign him to just be a body that’s never used? We have 0 sample size as he hasn’t been given a string of games, but I’d much rather see him than Trossard right now who I can’t stand. Playing against Brighton, you think he has a point to prove and he’s anonymous. I’m not saying Sterling is saving our season or anything – I just think he deserves a run of games to gain confidence and fitness. At this point,… Read more »
I am not sure playing him in a tight game against one of the most physical team when he just came back from a knee injury to be the best idea but maybe I am wrong.
I expected much more from this loan as well but unsure we will see anything from him ever at this point.
It’s short sighted to be talking about just this game. There’s been ample opportunity that we haven’t tried him.
You can’t expect a guy to have 3 minutes from the bench every 4 games and make any impact. It’s not fair on him.
The one time he played on the left he looked lively. So of course he has never played there again.
Same as how Jesus always plays on the left when he’s not central, despite being better on the right, or how he came on yesterday to play striker with Havertz (FFS) playing wide right, instead of the other way round.
He wasn’t brilliant, but Trossard created our two best chances, and defensively he intercepted a crossfield pass that would have left Willock through on goal. I think he was a full 6, not a 5.5 — I also thought that Martinelli was worth the full 6. He gave their defence more to think about than anyone else in the last half hour or so. Although, admittedly, that’s not saying much.
Notwithstanding his sublime 1st time through ball to Martinelli first half,Trossard’s contribution merely reinforced the view that’s an impact sub at best.
Ode, Trossard and Havertz totally ineffective. Martinelli the best man by far though he has to score that chance
We badly need Dubai now. And two players
🙁
What’s the actual point in Sterling taking space on the bench?
That miss from Havertz👀, didn’t even flick his head to head the ball until it bounced off his shoulders!
Skelly looked so good, I think we have a good talent here.
Not worth commenting on the rest.
If you look at MO’s face, he is gaunt. Always a lean fellow, but man those cheeks. My wife often times listens to NFL with the sound off. I am getting to that point with Arsenal. When Isak scored the goal it was all how brave, how great, how Newcastle had pushed. I was thinking arsenal should be 2-3 up and Newcastle was very lucky on that ball. Yes, Isak got there and lord knows Arsenal needs a guy who gets there, but still. Arsenal is a very very good team, but even before losing Saka the lack of scoring… Read more »
She listens to NFL with the sound off? Isn’t that just sitting in silence?
“Played like a man who has spent 6 days on the toilet”….nice. That accurately describes Havertz in general. But for the glaring miss I wouldn’t have noticed he was on the field
Do we still have a mathematical chance of making the final? If we win by 1-0 at Newcastle, would it go into penalties?
🤔
Please never work anywhere that requires basic math.
The score-line is the most important of all the stat
*stat short for statistics
Just watched some 0809 Arsenal. It’s recommended. Mikel seems to have learnt from all his mentors and except Arsene. If Wenger had two CBs like our 2 plus Rice he’d go to town on the rest of the lineup
Who exactly is this rest of the lineup? Who on our bench can come on and make a difference. Exactly
I’ve been watching games of that era of Arsenal recently (there is a YouTube channel with full matches) and it made me realise how much more fun the team was to watch than the current iteration. I feel like football was more fun in general at the time, and not because nobody could defend, but rather that teams were more prepared to go for it.
It amazed me how quickly the ball went from one end of the pitch and back again. Strange how you (or maybe it’s just me) forget how different things were.
5.5 for trossard is insane, as close to a 1 as you’ll ever see
Some people here need reminding that there are 90 other clubs whose fans – all of them – would love to be in the position we are at the halfway point of the season. And they find it baffling that we have any fans at all who want to get rid of the manager who has improved the team every year and made us the second-best team in England. Perhaps it would be useful for anyone who wishes for a change of manager (to who?) to imagine for a moment being a fan of Man United, or Everton, or Sp*rs,… Read more »
If some mystical creature told an Arsenal fan when Emery was sacked that we would have a manager that would take us to compete for the title with back to back second places, constant presence in the champions league with decent campaigns, I don’t think there would be a single fan unhappy. Winning the premier league is not that easy, Wenger himself won only 3 in 22 years. A rookie manager won’t always get his signings right, he will make mistakes, and he will learn along the way. There is a lot of ungratefulness around here
So why hire a rookie manager in the first place if he’s going to make a lot of mistakes?. Shouldn’t he be allowed to make those mistakes and learn his craft at a lower league club?
Spurs sacked the manager who got them 2nd and a Champions League final, ha
Expected a tough game today tbh. It’s the first of two legs with the second in a month’s time so will give Arteta a chance to adjust to a reality without Saka. A big disappointment was the return of the horse-shoe pattern from the early Arteta era where our defenders have great stats from a “touch” and “pass conversion” POV but in reality, was a reflection our inability to penetrate through the centre. Expected an Odegaard struggle today given Newcastle’s approach and his waning form but Arteta is obviously aware of this and should have adapted the team to suit.… Read more »
Not really much else to add. Toothless, lethargic, insipid performance.
Right then… this is going to be a tad harsh: Raya – started the game with one of the brainfarts that I had hoped were a thing of the past. Looked less than secure all evening and it filtered through to the entire defence. Saliba – is it just me or did he look mildly stoned? Really dopey performance – a tale of two headers, at either end, one he missed to hand them their goal (aided by Declan just watching the run across him to set up Isak)… the other he tamely put over their bar, unopposed, when we… Read more »
And the fact that our ‘solution’ with 20 to go and needing 3 goals… is to bring on Zinchenko????
Kinda says it all, really.
Arteta is dreaming of an entire starting eleven consisting of only left backs.(inverted of course)
There was a time not that long ago when we played with speed and now we have reverted back to early Arteta ball slow and horizontal giving every team we play against to get all their players behind the ball. Arteta is too stubborn he must see what every fan who watches sees. We can still win something this year but the game plan must change.
We found it difficult to score goals from open play with Saka. How do we do it without Saka? Need a striker. A winger. And a creative player to rest odegaard or play alongside him. Busy summer for us. Hopefully we buy better this summer than we did last summer. If we don’t bring in a quality player this January we might not finish top 4. At the moment, the players are gassed. Martinelli and Trossard are not making an impact this season. Time for an upgrade.
Saliba and Gabriel need a week off.