Having spent a club record fee for a goalkeeper on Bernd Leno this summer, it was not unreasonably expected in many quarters that the German would start the season as the team’s first choice.
However, Unai Emery’s selection of Petr Cech for yesterday’s 2-0 defeat to Man City was an indication that he prefers the veteran to the new boy right now, and afterwards the Spaniard went some way to explaining his decision.
He cited experience as a factor, but insisted that there’s genuine competition for every position in the side, not just between the sticks.
“We want the competition between the goalkeepers and also every player in the squad,” said Emery.
“Despite the position, it is the same opportunity and the same chances for all the goalkeepers. We spoke also and Petr Cech, he is doing very well.
“Today as well, I think he played well also. He has this experience for continuing to defend our goal. Also, Leno is starting with us.
“He is working very well, he played well in pre-season too but he has to wait for his chance to arrive.”
Cech made some excellent saves, but did look a bit uncomfortable at times with the ball at his feet as the new head coach began to imprint his playing style on the team.
It’s going to take some time to get used to it, for players and fans alike, so let’s hope there’s a bit more patience in the games ahead.
Let’s hope he doesn’t make a pass that goes the wrong side of the post ie in the goal.
He was pretty close versus City.
Coach is analytical enough to know who to bench in the midfield now, after that wreck. Xhaka and this other guy I wouldn’t name, should do the trick.
(Hint, that other guy looks like Giroud in midfield, can’t pass the ball accurately, hinders the flow of our game, never known to have a good touch, and rarely makes incisive passes. Very handsome bloke.)
I assume you mean Ramsey. The only problem I have with that is that he’s so much better than our other midfielders(I reserve the right to change my mind if lucas and geundozi improve the team) that he’s kinda impossible to drop. Without his runs all our midfield has is safe passing and dwelling on the ball for too long. If we had better players then by all means you could drop him
You mean that guy who nutmeg some city defender only for mikhi to screw the build up, or that guy who pass to mikhi in city box only for mikhi to skied it, or the only guy who actually bother to press city in their final third? Yeah fuck that guy.
Granit was pretty decent I thought.
One mistake getting caught out.
I felt we would have been better starting Torreira but the ills of Granit are again greatly imagined. Played the ball out well, largely protected us enough, not the best option against a more mobile team like city but he did decent for us.
There’s worse options like Elneny
The biggest difference i notice is that we have kenny G dropping back as the 3rd CD with musrafi and sokratis spread further apart to help us to bring the ball out of the defence, but we simply couldnt keep the ball after the halfway line. Perhaps elneny in place of ramsey in a more withdrawn role would hsce enabled us to keep the ball and build attacks better.
Out of curiosity how do you see that swap helping us build attacks?
The problem is that we need somebody who can run with the ball to make a pass instead of somebody who run to receive the pass. And that is definitely is not Ramsey. Unfortunately that cannot be Xhaka, who is too slow in possession. Time and time again he lost possession, or even worse he played one of his teammates in danger with hospital passes. As clearly Özil has been instructed to stay high on the pitch, somebody else has to make the relay between defense and attack. Again a well drilled pressing midfield three, you need a midfield trio… Read more »
It’s probably not Ramsey I’d agree with that. But it’s definitely not elneny either. Ramsey is in my opinion the best alternative that we have in that at least he offers something productive. All I’ve ever seen elneny offer is a safe pass and move kinda game. He’s a very limited player. Which is why we should have invested in someone to replace Wiltshire.
Good comment.
Why on earth Arsenal let Wilshere leave but kept el neny and Xhaka ….
Sure, the contracts just signed issue and all that.
Someone else commented on the game comments, with which I totally agree: “What has Xhaka done to deserve to play at Arsenal” or something close to that.
Xhaka … was he a Wenger signing? Whoever thought he was a good signing should be fined, fired – or both. Apart from one total belter against KloppenPool last season, bleck!
Because Wilshere isn’t very good anymore. Let’s stop pretending he is. The reasons he is no longer at Arsenal have been discussed into the ground. I wouldn’t mind seeing Ramsey at the 8 next to Torreira but his defensive liabilities are a lot to accept given our slow centerbacks. Elneny does no harm as a squad player, occasionally has a good game and rarely a bad one, and his wages can’t be that high. Xhaka OTOH needs to justify his first XI spot pretty damn fast or he may find himself a cup player. I hope he does elevate his… Read more »
I’d give this more thumbs up if I could. I love Jack for his passion that he showed for Arsenal but in the last 5-6 years he hasn’t done anything bar a couple of nice goals that made me sit up and take note. He was not a stand out player in an average Bournemouth team, and seemed to be on the periphery for West Ham at the weekend. As much as people want to knock players in our squad for not being good enough, he was also not good enough. We also need to realise, Emery has had 1… Read more »
If not Jack or Santi then the only other guy is Iwobi.
He’s now go the new build for midfield battles to go with his close control.
I appreciate that it’s not entirely fair for me as an armchair viewer to make this comment, but it’s so dispiriting to see the stadium empty ten minutes before time. Even at 0-2 we still had an outside chance. Watching the white gun gradually emerge from the thinning crowd always gives me a sinking feeling! Having said that, I thought the core of fans were very supportive yesterday – lots of applause and so on.
Beating the crowd to get out can make quite a difference to the commute home. When City were passing it around and doing ole’s there wasn’t much fun in watching it, so if it means trying to get to the tube station a few mins earlier to save yourself 30-40 minutes of queuing and waiting, then sometimes that’s necessary. I stayed until the end and I too hate seeing all the empty seats, but I don’t think it means that we have bad fans.
It annoys the hell out of me, and it’s been like this from day 1 at the Emirates and even the latter years at Highbury (where it was less noticeable as the seats were closer together). Even if we were winning the league with City’s points tally we’d still have fans regularly leaving 10mins early. I get that getting home can be a pain, particularly the evening games, but on a Sunday afternoon? Also, yes there’s queues at Arsenal and Highbury & Islington can be 30-40mins, even longer, why not take a 10 min walk to Finsbury Park or 15min… Read more »
Have you ever been to the new ground? It can be a pain in the arse getting away because the police hold you up and make you queue just to get onto the Holloway Road. But you’re making a very interesting point, one which my favourite poster Voldemort touched on yesterday. Huge and important questions have to be asked about the entire direction in which the club is moving at the moment. Without serious financial investment we have exactly zero chance of catching or even competing with the likes of City, Chelsea or even Liverpool. The problem is that we… Read more »
You have a point but it seems like Arsenal FC are run like a self-sustaining business, the transfer kit will always be decided by how much the club can generate as long a Kroenke is the main owner. This in itself makes it hard to compete with clubs that a backed by heavy investors (City, PSG) but doesnt’t mean that this team can’t get better and challenge for the title with the right acquisitions. Chelsea have been run similarly for the last 2-3 seasons, which many have not noticed.
Oh FFS. What, you’d prefer a Russian Oligarch to take over? You want the Barca model (and that really isn’t what keeps that club afloat – its loose lending from Spanish banks and chronyism)? You have no idea what Stan’s (of the creepy mustach) plans are. He may well be a good or a bad owner. Why don’t we wait and see before we all start pointlessly whinging like a bunch of mules. “The future looks bleak.” What, exactly, are you basing that on – besides your own ignorance, and media rumor. “And the club will only recover when Stan… Read more »
Agree with Homer. There really is an elite level of financial backing that precious few teams have. City, PSG, Real Madrid, Barca, maybe Bayern Munich and United. Everyone else has a balance sheet of some kind. That’s why I view the top four as a battle for just two of four spots. The playing field simply isn’t level. We sit in the upper class, but we are not in the 1%. We are fighting Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, and soon Everton, and Kroenke needs to bankroll this club enough to compete with and hopefully dominate that group. The way to succeed… Read more »
Hello? Is it Stan or Josh? 1. Would I prefer a Russian Oligarch to Stan? Yes, absolutely! Take a look at Chelsea. Ditto Arab oil money. The world is full of dodgy people and governments. And the USA’s recent human rights record is nothing to brag about: I see Guantanamo Bay is still open. 2. Arsenal spent £70 million this summer; Liverpool, with a far better team, spent £170 million. Point proven. The squad needed major surgery but Stan applied a sticking plaster. 3. “The future looks bleak.” This is base on the simple fact that Stan has been here… Read more »
Good points.
My only question is why your focus for the last few years has been on Wenger rather than Stan, given your very valid points about Stan.
Wenger is a great manager who has done what he has (mostly over-achieved regularly) without support from Stan or Ivan.
Wenger sold his soul to Stan. If Wenger had had any integrity he would have walked once he realised what was happening at the club. Stan’s “project” was always to spend as little as it took to achieve a fourth place finish. The Yank had absolutely no interest in challenging for the big trophies. Instead, Wenger became a key part of the plan. Stan loved him because he could deliver lucrative CL football without spending big. And Wenger loved the club because it was happy to pay him £8 million a year for these mediocre achievements. Had he got the… Read more »
Thank you very much mate you’ve said it all
I am happy to disclose that I thumbed up this Fatgooner comment.
Fatgooner, you made a lot of sense in your comment.
Doesn’t this happen at pretty much every sporting ground? Certainly happens where I’m from (Aussie) It’s hardly an ‘Arsenal’ thing.
Does anyone else want to hear Emery say coc-ca-roch or say hello to my little friend.
Either he doesn’t like Leno or he’s scared of rocking the boat. How can you want to play out from the back and leave Leno on the bench?? One of the surprising Positives was how well Sokratis played. Still looks heavy but read the game well and covered Mustafi. Xhaka was disappointing. Much better than that but he has to do better. Guendouzi is good but let’s not overrate his performance. We shouldn’t be playing this narrow against the top 6. If Ramsey is going to play as a 10, Aubamayeng should NEVER be CF…but him on the wing and… Read more »
My greatest worry is to start the season on losing note. No fear factor and that encourage even bottom table teams have go at us. Have look the goals again then you have a same old Arsenal. I would want to believe that more changes would come in January.
Like blogs said it worries me that we play an out from the back type game with someone who has never played like this before while we have another new player who knows how to. Is he that bad then?
Where’s the player ratings ?
At times? Cech looked like a man thrown a handgrenade when he got the ball. Doesn’t matter how well he stopped shots if this is how Emery wants to play.
I was really pleased to sign a good keeper, Leno, this summer. Didn’t Cech own some of the poorest stats for errors leading to goals last season. He is unable to quickly transition the play and makes me very nervous with the ball at his feet. It feels like the position of keeper is not moving forward with the new tactics. Great keeper once, but a worry now to throw a couple in.
Don’t think we can afford to play Ramsey and Ozil together. Ozil cannot be on the right wing and in fact Miki cuts in a lot too so we need some wingers please. I hope Ramsey isn’t demanding The Central spot to sign his contract or if he is then don’t play Ozil as well.
First off, I think we MUST find a way to get them working together. That said, there is and has been a problem with them at key moments trying to occupy the same spaces, playing on top of one another, and in general not getting the chemistry right with one another. This will be a big task for Emery. He needs to figure out who he is going to prioritize for what, and give them clear marching orders for how to play with one another. I think they can. It was a few years ago now, but Wenger went through… Read more »
Miki has been pretty average for us so far, a few bright games but generally poor. Does he have the energy anymore to play the press? I’m not so sure. This added to Ozil is why the midfield and attack are currently very disjointed
Which is why I should manage Arsenal ?
I was not a fan of the team selection and I think he got it wrong.
With Emery’s style of building from back, we can’t have Cech in goal as he is absolutely terrible at distributing. He looks nervous (and makes me nervous) every time he passes. That being said he was excellent at shot stopping yesterday.
Nothing unexpected.
As I had mentioned it is on the onus of Leno to displace Cech.
Cech put in two great saves to keep us in it against Mahrez’s free kick + rebound with Laporte and then against Aguero when Guendouzi mucked it up.
Leno may cost but he hasn’t done anything just yet to prove he is substantially better. He will get his opportunities in cups first.